Instrument Student's Log
Part Three

Flights 5-6

Flight 5: Sat, Oct 26. (1 / 10.3)

We were going to work on approaches today, but we had a problem with the radio. It seemed to be fine before we left; we could hear local traffic, and our radio check was answered. A few miles out we tuned in Tampa Approach, but couldn't get much of a signal. (When that frequency seems quiet, something is wrong.) That ruled out approaches, so we did more maneuvers, including a lot of climbs and descents to get around the clouds. I did a holding pattern around a real fix, an NDB, instead of the practice area, so I had to watch the ADF as well as the timer and the other instruments.

We played with the radio when we got back to the hangar. We thought the problem might be the squelch, but we didn't have a screwdriver to adjust it. We adjusted the antenna connections on the back of the radio, and were able to pick up the approach frequency clearly, so the problem seemed to be solved.

Instrument ground school started last week.

Flight 6: Sun, Oct 27. (1.1 / 11.4)

I filed my first IFR flight plan today. It's just about the same as the VFR version, but I was supposed to practice copying a clearance. We took off and called Tampa Approach to get the clearance. We heard nothing after a few tries, so apparently the radio problem is still there. It was time to improvise again, so my CFI gave me a few practice clearances to write down. (Since he's not an auctioneer, I didn't have as much trouble getting them as I would with real controllers.) We did some more steep turns, climbs, descents, slow flight, and VOR/NDB tracking/intercepting before landing at Lakeland for lunch.

I did some partial panel maneuvers, and my CFI says I still seem to do better than with all the gauges, which is not normal. I think that's a polite way of saying I'm not paying enough attention to the attitude indicator, which is the main instrument in most situations. It's the one he covers, along with the heading indicator, for partial panel work. When it's uncovered, I'm supposed to scan it a little more than the others.

It must be hard for someone else to tell if I'm scanning properly, unless my heading, altitude, airspeed, etc. are wrong. A few times I've had them all right at the same time, but realized it was more luck than skill, since soon at least one of them was off.

The radio problem seems to be distance-based, since we can hear local traffic and had no problem communicating with the tower and ground at Lakeland. (At least, no trouble caused by the radio. My controlled airport skills are definitely rusty, because until last week I hadn't visited one in months.) The signals that are farther out, such as approach, are the ones we don't hear.

Glossary