Instrument Student's Log
Part Eleven

Flights 18-19

Tues, Dec 31.

After the last lesson I went on another flight, and something went wrong. I was about ten miles from home and had just been told by Approach to go on my own when both radios suddenly went out. For a second I thought the electrical system had failed, but the GPS was still running off the cigarette lighter.

Both radios were dark as if there was no power. I turned them both off and back on. Number two (the older one) came back, but the other didn't. After putting the plane away I tried the radios again with the same results. I felt around the back for any loose connections, but didn't find anything obviously wrong.

I had already made an appointment today with another avionics shop to get my first VOR checked, so I had them look at the radio. Luckily it was just a blown fuse inside the radio, so it was a minor (cheap) repair job.

The bad news was that 15 degrees off is the best they can do with the VOR. It's an old Narco model, maybe as old as the plane, which can't easily be fixed since parts for it are no longer made. I can get a newer model installed, but it will be expensive.

Flight 18: Sat, Jan 4, 1997. (.8 / 24.1)

Today we did two ILS approaches at Lakeland. They went a little better than last time. For a few seconds I had the glideslope and localizer both centered.

After the lesson I got a couple more hours of hood time on a trip to Melbourne (MLB). On departure from an auto-gas stop at Winter Haven (GIF), I did my first instrument takeoff. I taxied into position on the runway centerline visually and stopped, then put on the foggles and used the heading indicator to guide me down the runway. It was not as hard as I thought it would be.

I did an ILS approach at Melbourne, the first one I'd tried without my CFII. It was the easiest one I've done, because our heading there was in line with the active runway, so it was a straight-in arrival: no vectors, no navaids, no timer, no holding or procedure turns, just fly the needles. As we started to taxi to leave there, the new radio died again. (The fuse lasted a whole three hours.) The other radio never blinked.

Flight 19: Sun, Jan 5. (1 / 27.5)

The original plan for today was to try a back course localizer approach at St. Pete/Clearwater Int'l (PIE), the only airport in the area that has one. The wind was too strong in the wrong direction to get a clearance for that approach, and thanks to the latest radio failure, we had no glideslope receiver to use for an ILS.

Instead we did one VOR and one regular localizer approach. The VOR approach is strange because it involves an NDB. I had trouble figuring it out when I looked at the plate before the lesson, but with enough coaching it went OK.

The flight took us right through the middle of the class B over Tampa International (TPA), the first time I'd flown through that area. This was also the first time Approach called me first. Right after takeoff, before I had a chance to check in, they spotted us on radar and gave us a vector and altitude. What service!

Glossary