Instrument Student's Log
Part Six

Flights 7-10

Flight 7: Sun, Nov 3. (1 / 12.7)

I assumed that since VOR one is way off, the glideslope in it would be unusable too. But the glideslope is a separate signal, and it still works. We did one ILS and one VOR approach at Lakeland without any instrument problems. (We had both VORs tuned to the same frequency, and ignored the localizer of number one.)

I need to study the approach plates and procedures more, since any problems I'm having with approaches are from trying to figure out what to do next, rather than flying the plane.

The radios seemed to work fine. We still have occasional noise problems, which only happen in the air. The radios always sound clear on the ground with the engine off, which seems to rule out the radios themselves.

I think the maze of wires draped around the cockpit connecting the portable intercom, headsets, and push-to-talk switches to the radios acts like an antenna and picks up interference from the engine or electrical system. I'll have to play with the setup.

Flight 8: Sat, Nov 9. (1 / 13.7)

We did some NDB and VOR tracking today and then headed over to Lakeland. Again we had radio problems talking to Tampa Approach, so we had to call off the approaches we were going to do. There only seems to be a problem with that frequency in that area, since we were in constant radio contact with several cities on the Key West trip, without any problems.

Flight 9: Sun, Nov 10. (1.3 / 15)

We went to Brooksville (BKV) to do some approaches. It's an uncontrolled airport, so we didn't have to talk to Approach. We did two localizer approaches, which are just ILS approaches without the glideslope, and then a full ILS approach. The first one was terrible because I was too busy watching my altitude and descent rate to pay attention to the localizer needle. The other two were OK.

After the lesson, I did a cross country to the Orlando area, way past Lakeland, listening to the Tampa Approach frequency all the way there and back. Why doesn't it work with my flight instructor in the plane? (I didn't transmit to them, though, so that still could have been a problem.)

When we have radio problems, they're intermittent. Sometimes we can hear fine, but are told our transmissions sound garbled; other times it's the reverse. Sometimes there's a lot of hiss or noise; sometimes the sound is clear. The new radio seems to receive much better than the other one. At least, with both tuned to the same signal, the new radio will go much louder.

Flight 10: Sun, Nov 17. (1 / 16)

We thought we'd try our luck in Lakeland again today. At least we got the radio problem narrowed down. We ruled out the headsets and intercom as the source of the problem. (Com one transmits garbled but receives well; com two broadcasts fine but receives distant signals poorly. Since there's no audio panel, both radios are always receiving, so it's a bad idea to put them both on the same frequency.) Time to go back to the avionics shop.

Since we couldn't talk to Approach, we got cleared to land and did a VOR approach on the way in.

Glossary