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Instrument rating journey begins

9erDriver

Well Known Member
Winter project complete; panel is now IFR capable - verified everything works:
www.pilotvids.com/image/N249ST_panel_upgrade

Spending quality time with Martha and the King ground school - about half way done

Two dual lessons under the hood so far - a humbling experience

Goal: Instrument Rating this summer in my RV9A - wish me luck!


N249ST_panel_upgrade
 
Good luck. I am working on mine also right now. One of the local flight instruction center held an IFR Ground School that finished up last week. I really enjoyed it.
 
Do not get impatient - its an important rating

I took me over a year to get my instrument rating in 1984. At the end of the training I had spent over $6,000 1984 dollars. If you have some bad days you can bet you are not alone. The rating can save your life - stick with it to the end.

Bob Axsom
 
You won't regret it

I did the majority of my training in the mountains in the fall which means a healthy bit of wind and the related orographic up and downdrafts. I thought I'd never get the hang of holding any semblance of legal altitude. :eek:

It came with practice though.

One of my most memorable experiences occured as I was having a bad day late in my training while shooting an ILS. Struggling with changing wind and could not keep the steam gage needles centered to my liking. I had a death grip on the yoke (Arrow II). I called in at DH for the missed so I could go do another one and accidentally kept the PTT depressed when saying to my instructor "Dammit that was awful"....:mad:

The tower shot back "It didn't look that bad to us"...:p

Embarrased but grinned and tried again. Was better the next time. :cool:

Passing the check ride ranked up there with the best of the educational victories in my carreer.

KEEP it up , both of you. :)
 
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Humbling indeed

Some of the most demanding flying I have ever done!...I got there though..little by little..Its NOT easy.

At least your doing it in a 9 and not a 7 like I did!

Its a huge acheivement..keep at it..you will get there.

Frank
 
This experience will greatly improve your overall....

...flying skills as all add-on ratings do.

My glider rating helped as well, with better rudder usage skills.

Congrats,
 
If you do your training in your experimental...

Steve:
While most insurance policies cover an instructor in a private aircraft, that's not always the case with an experimental. Yes, you can use your aircraft for training as long as you're the student and not the instructor. However, while in actual IMC, the instructor is PIC and not just a "safety pilot". Check with your insurer. Can you add the instructor? Will your policy provide coverage while training? Make sure you let your instructor know.
Terry, CFI
RV-9A N323TP
 
Some times it is best to just read your policy

Some times it is best to just read your policy and proceed according to the written word. Instructors, insurance agents and lawyers cannot be expected to give an opinion that puts them at risk - sometimes you have to study and make a decision all by yourself if you want to get anything done.

Bob Axsom
 
a few tips..........

trim a lot and know the setting for your desired speeds like cruise, ils descent, climb, ect.

bury your head into the attitude indicator. it is your life force. if you are climbing or descending the ai will be showing the same. my 6 with FP prop is 1,700 rpms, 500fpm descent rate, 5 degrees down ai for ils approach.

enjoy the fun. one day it will all click. its nice to have your own plane to practice with. that should save time with the instructor. :D hea nice panel too.
snf037.jpg
 
Steve:
While most insurance policies cover an instructor in a private aircraft, that's not always the case with an experimental. Yes, you can use your aircraft for training as long as you're the student and not the instructor. However, while in actual IMC, the instructor is PIC and not just a "safety pilot". Check with your insurer. Can you add the instructor? Will your policy provide coverage while training? Make sure you let your instructor know.
Terry, CFI
RV-9A N323TP

Thanks for the heads up on insurance. I must admit, it never crossed my mind. I'll check it out.

Thanks all for the encouragement. I do enjoy the challenge and the learning, and am looking forward to my next dual this week. -steve
 
So it begins...

today I purchased a GRT Sport, a new blank panel from Vans and some other goodies to begin my IFR panel upgrade. "Hope" to have the panel upgrade done by the end of summer. Then I will begin the task of working on my IFR ticket. I have been stuck to many times lately due to weather. If anyone knows of a "good deal" on a WAAS enabled 430 send me an e-mail. :cool:

Regards,
 
I have been stuck to many times lately due to weather.

Just remember - you will be stuck many times even WITH an instrument rating as well! It's good to remember that when flying light GA airplanes, the weather will frequently win. The instrument rating is an outstanding thing to earn and use - but it will not solve every weather problem you find....remember that we are never "invincible".

Good luck, enjoy the learning!

Paul
 
today I purchased a GRT Sport, a new blank panel from Vans and some other goodies to begin my IFR panel upgrade. "Hope" to have the panel upgrade done by the end of summer. Then I will begin the task of working on my IFR ticket. I have been stuck to many times lately due to weather. If anyone knows of a "good deal" on a WAAS enabled 430 send me an e-mail. :cool:

Regards,

Scott - I bought my 430W and other upgrade stuff from Stein. Great folks to work with and great support during your project if (or rather when) you have questions, and price was as good or better than I found anywhere else. Also, Stein's shop is a cool place to visit if you want to go pick the stuff up. -steve
 
Steve:
While most insurance policies cover an instructor in a private aircraft, that's not always the case with an experimental. Yes, you can use your aircraft for training as long as you're the student and not the instructor. However, while in actual IMC, the instructor is PIC and not just a "safety pilot". Check with your insurer. Can you add the instructor? Will your policy provide coverage while training? Make sure you let your instructor know.
Terry, CFI
RV-9A N323TP

Good point. I need to do an IPC - didn't do any instrument work the whole time I was building. I'm assuming the instructor would be PIC if we do any actual until I'm signed off as current?
 
Just remember - you will be stuck many times even WITH an instrument rating as well! It's good to remember that when flying light GA airplanes, the weather will frequently win. The instrument rating is an outstanding thing to earn and use - but it will not solve every weather problem you find....remember that we are never "invincible".

Good luck, enjoy the learning!

Paul

Thanks Paul. From everything I've read up to this point I'm sure the initial learning curve will be steep, but I love a challenge. As for weather, I already have a set of personal minimums which will keep me on the ground even in IFR conditions.

A good case in point was my recent flight home from Florida after SnF. I was there for an extra week working and hoped to depart on Friday to get ahead of the severe weather that swept through MS, AL, and GA. I didn't make that. I knew Saturday was a no go because of the tornados, hail and just really lousy weather that would be in the way. Even with an IFR ticket I wouldn't have gone anywhere near that. Sunday looked to be good EXCEPT for a remnant of storm that would block off the northern part of Florida. I left Brooksville, FL hoping to find a way through on Sunday. Well I landed in Cross City, Fl and wound up spending the day at the FBO. It never cleared enough to leave VFR, but 100 miles to the north in Tallahassee it was clear. An IFR ticket and I would have been gone.

Quite honestly I don't want to fly in the clouds and get beat up for hours. My goal is the proverbial IFR light... I want to look out the window and enjoy the scenery. Otherwise I would want to be getting paid for it. ;)


Scott - I bought my 430W and other upgrade stuff from Stein. Great folks to work with and great support during your project if (or rather when) you have questions, and price was as good or better than I found anywhere else. Also, Stein's shop is a cool place to visit if you want to go pick the stuff up. -steve

Ahhhh Schtein "he's not happy till he has all your money". :eek: I know Stein will be getting more of money as usual. However I did get the 430 rack and wiring harness ordered, it should be here in a couple of weeks. :D Most of the other nesessary parts were ordered this week too. Let the games begin!

Regards,
 
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IFR update

15 hours dual under the hood including a dozen practice approaches...starting to really enjoy this now. Skills improving, and no longer mentally exhausted after a long session under the hood.

The RV9A seems like a great bird for this training; agile and good performance, but stable with deliberate control movements. Instructor also seems impressed. Running 91 octane car gas helps keep the cost down.

Autopilot coupled GPS approaches all the way down to DH are an amazing thing to behold! A bit disappointed, however, to discover that my Digiflight II VSGV won't couple to the 430W in an ILS approach. A call to the tru trak factory confirmeed it: "it's not made to do that".

Finished the King insrument ground school, now taking practice tests in preparation for the test. Got a big kick out of seeing Joe and Martha age 10 or 20 years (or grow 10-20 years younger!) in the middle of the same lesson. Obviously they made the course in the 80's and then spliced in updates as the years went on.

The journey continues...
 
Thanks for the update - please keep them coming! Very motivational. Are you doing all the dual in the airplane, or some in a simulator?
Autopilot coupled GPS approaches all the way down to DH are an amazing thing to behold! A bit disappointed, however, to discover that my Digiflight II VSGV won't couple to the 430W in an ILS approach. A call to the tru trak factory confirmeed it: "it's not made to do that".
Yes, that is the way things work. The GPS provides guidance for GPS (aka RNAV) approaches, but the VLOC (aka ILS) receiver provides guidance for ILS approaches. If you have an EFIS with a flight director, it can do it. This
Works this way in big/certified systems too.

What speed / flap configuration do you fly the approaches at?
 
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Yep, AP's that can handle VOR/LOC/GS signals either over ARINC or Analog are limited in the experimental world to the high end TT units and the Dynon with the HS34 (Dynon won't do GS yet)...

The way it is done with lower end AP's is the EFIS transfigures the VOR/LOC/GS signals into ARINC GPSS and GPSV commands that the lower end AP's can understand. You must have a GPSS/GPSV enabled AP for this to work.

Legacy Dynon EFIS's do not do this type of transfiguration of the data...

Autopilot coupled GPS approaches all the way down to DH are an amazing thing to behold! A bit disappointed, however, to discover that my Digiflight II VSGV won't couple to the 430W in an ILS approach. A call to the tru trak factory confirmeed it: "it's not made to do that". ..
 
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Auto Pilot Coupling

The GNS480/GRT EFIS/Digiflight II VSGV combination works this way. I've demostrated ILS and LPV coupled approaches in my RV-7A. The GRT EFIS couples to the Autopilot through the ARNIC port. The EFIS handles all the GPSS/GPSV conversions. Great system!

Yep, AP's that can handle VOR/LOC/GS signals either over ARINC or Analog are limited in the experimental world to the high end TT units and the Dynon with the HS34 (Dynon won't do GS yet)...

The way it is done with lower end AP's is the EFIS transfigures the VOR/LOC/GS signals into ARINC GPSS and GPSV commands that the lower end AP's can understand. You must have a GPSS/GPSV enabled AP for this to work.

Legacy Dynon EFIS's do not do this type of transfiguration of the data...
 
The GNS 430W/AFS EFIS/Digiflight II VSGV combination works this way as well.

I finished my IPC last night so I'm current again! We filed and flew the flight in the system, which was fun. It's been severe clear so we weren't able to get any actual, but I'll be looking for some clouds soon.

Check with your insurance company on their definition of PIC. I called and they said even if we filed with my CFII as the legal PIC (FAA rules) as long as I was flying they considered me to be PIC for insurance purposes. YMMV.

The GNS480/GRT EFIS/Digiflight II VSGV combination works this way. I've demostrated ILS and LPV coupled approaches in my RV-7A. The GRT EFIS couples to the Autopilot through the ARNIC port. The EFIS handles all the GPSS/GPSV conversions. Great system!
 
Thanks for the update - please keep them coming! Very motivational. Are you doing all the dual in the airplane, or some in a simulator?

Yes, that is the way things work. The GPS provides guidance for GPS (aka RNAV) approaches, but the VLOC (aka ILS) receiver provides guidance for ILS approaches. If you have an EFIS with a flight director, it can do it. This
Works this way in big/certified systems too.

What speed / flap configuration do you fly the approaches at?

Dave - only about an hour of sim on a really cross-windy day, the rest in the plane under the hood. On approaches I shoot for 90 KTS indicated with 10 degrees flaps, which works out to be about 1700 RPM (fixed pitch). I have learned to pay close attention to elevator trim on the approach. -steve
 
Dave - only about an hour of sim on a really cross-windy day, the rest in the plane under the hood. On approaches I shoot for 90 KTS indicated with 10 degrees flaps, which works out to be about 1700 RPM (fixed pitch). I have learned to pay close attention to elevator trim on the approach. -steve

Steve:
You may want to point out the the 10 degrees comes in before intercepting the GS or starting down. Also, with 90 kts on a descent, you're above flap speed and will be unable to slow down further (wouldn't want to risk more flaps at that speed) unless you have a CS prop. Also, if the speed is still 90 at the DH, you don't want to pitch up as it may take you back into the soup. That high of speed inside the DH may require a very long runway. I'd rather fly a stabilized approach at 78kts. Very easy in the 9. BTW, "keep your speed up" request by ATC does not require you to abandon a stabilized approach.
Terry, CFI
RV-9A N323TP
 
Van's manual lists max airspeeds of 100 mph (87 kts) for 15 degrees flaps and 90 mph (78 kts) for full flaps. I have a 3-blade Catto and usually aim to cross the numbers at 65 kts. Once you get partial flaps in you can slow very quickly.

Last night as I was finishing up my IPC I shot the GPS Rwy 9 into KANE at 100 kts. I pulled the power back at 500 agl and slowed to 87 kts without pitching up or climbing, got partial flaps in, then full flaps at 78 kts at which point slowing to 65-70 kts is easy. I'm pretty sure I was still at least 200 agl at that point.

My thinking is if I'm ever in low IFR - say 500 ft or less, I'll probably fly the approach around 80-90 kts. If I'm expecting to break out higher I think using 100 kts or higher is probably okay. I shot a few of the approaches at 110-120 kts where my CFI said to plan going missed, although now you're getting into the 700-800 fpm descent rates down the glideslope and things are happening pretty quickly.
 
written test complete

Scored an 88; was hoping for 90+, but I'll take it. Much harder than the Private written test. 25 hrs under the hood now, including numerous approaches and a three-legged cross country.

Minor setback (I hope) with a Dynon HS34 glitch. Seems to be a thermal problem whereby on any flight other than the first flight of the day, it's about 50/50 as to whether the HS34 will power up. Called Dynon, RMA issued and the unit is on the way back to the factory for testing and hopefully repair. One thing I really love about experimental avionics is the responsiveness and customer service that they all seem to practice. Wish the rest of the world was that way.

the journey continues.... target date now established for instrument rating by Sept. 21 (last day of Summer).
 
Nice Going

Keep up the good work Steve. Sounds like you are really starting to get a handle on the whole thing. I'd be happy with an 88 on the written....

Still working on 339A panel upgrade. Next up is pulling coax/wires, plan to do that this weekend. Then I will have to decide when to make the "Big Switch" panel change-out. Wanted to do it after OSH , but as usual time is not on my side.


Scored an 88; was hoping for 90+, but I'll take it. Much harder than the Private written test. 25 hrs under the hood now, including numerous approaches and a three-legged cross country.


the journey continues.... target date now established for instrument rating by Sept. 21 (last day of Summer).
 
Congrats Steve, a great job and one more hurdle out of the way. You will be done before you know it and the real flying/learning will begin.

Mehrdad
P.S. I would study much more for the oral portion of the check ride if it is going to be any thing like my examiner. I got 97 in my written but got totally hammered in the oral portion. My examiner, unlike the flying portion of the exam, was not much happy with my performance during the oral portion.
 
Instrument ticket earned!

Sealed the deal today with a successful instrument checkride in Sierra Tango, and still grinning 6 hours later. It is indeed possible to earn your instrument rating start to finish in an RV9A. This surely ranks right up there in my top 10 lifetime accomplishments (at least that's the way I feel right now:)) Journey began with complete panel upgrade last winter, followed by lots of work, commitment, and studying, periodic panel debugging, and culminating with a large dose of checkride anxiety; now it's done. My goal was to get 'er done by end of summer - success with technically 5 days to spare.

I must say Sierra Tango performed admirably. My checkride inspector, who never flew in an RV before today was impressed with her (more so than my flying, I believe), especially the triple+ redundancy for critical flight avionics (e-bus, backup Dynon with backup battery, backup 496, etc.) that I built in during the panel upgrade.

I did manage to log about an hour of actual IMC along the journey, a very different experience from 'under the hood' instrument work. I can see why some pilots opt to put the hood on when in IMC - the view out the canopy can be very distracting.

I feel very comfortable now flying 'in the system', and look forward to the added safety and convenience that my new rating will help deliver, especially on the frequent long cross countries that look to be in my future.
 
Congratulations Steve....

...on a very worthwhile endeavor. You're going to be pleasantly surprised at the ability to get to places that you can't, under VFR, at times.

The HS-34 I exchanged as well, seems to be working better now, despite the heat. Just yesterday, my airplane sat in the hot sun, facing west, for two and a half hours but the HS-34 "spoke" to the D-100. I did buy some windshield sun shades, though, to help keep things a little cooler.

Best,
 
Congrats Steve, a job well done and worth all the ups and downs during the training.

Just like Pierre said, you will be able to go places with much more confidence then before. The funny part for me and my wife is that we feel far safer filling IFR then before when we could go which ever direction and altitude under VFR flight rule.

Just flew for three hours IFR and enjoyed every minute of it.
 
Congrats on the rating, it will open a lot of doors for you flying wise.

Just remember:

1.) legal currency doesn't always mean you're current
2.) published mins may be lower than your personal mins
3.) always have an out

Honesty with yourself and your personal mins is the biggest sign of a proffesional, and will always keep you safe.

Enjoy the new rating, you earned it!
 
Nice

Sealed the deal today with a successful instrument checkride in Sierra Tango, and still grinning 6 hours later. It is indeed possible to earn your instrument rating start to finish in an RV9A. This surely ranks right up there in my top 10 lifetime accomplishments (at least that's the way I feel right now:)) Journey began with complete panel upgrade last winter, followed by lots of work, commitment, and studying, periodic panel debugging, and culminating with a large dose of checkride anxiety; now it's done. My goal was to get 'er done by end of summer - success with technically 5 days to spare.

Nice going and congratulations Steve! Sounds like it was quite the endeavor. If it were easy everyone would do it. Anything that is really difficult to obtain and helps define who you are, can not be matched in terms of personal achievement/satisfaction. Get out there and use the new rating. :cool:

Best Regards,
 
Indeed, congrats. How to use it... deliver BBQ to the mother-in-law 100mi away in comfort, not under the morning crud at 2000', not over the afternoon crud at 14k', but through all of it at 7k' without having to change course or altitude for a cloud. Fly it under the hood both ways, shoot an approach on each end, get .2 actual, easy cheesy :). We use it like this all the time.
 
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