Instrument Pilot at last!

Gack.

My Private Pilot certificate was easy. 42.6 hours. Someone even started the "IHKFGHTSQ club" (I Hate Kent For Getting His Ticket So Quickly) on a web board I participated on.

Instrument is a different story. I've been doing plenty of flying besides training, but I have about 275 hours total flight time, 115 hours cross country pilot-in-command time (50 hours required for the instrument), and 90 hours instrument time (40 required). I took my first instrument lesson in September of 2003. It's been much more difficult (though I can probably attribute part of that to an extremely thorough flight instructor). I've been very close to a checkride twice (Nov. 04 and Jul. 05) and had conflicts which kept me from flying for a while and set me back.

I finally got the signoff from my instructor. My oral exam went well (Pilot examiner's comment: "I really like your thought processes.") I was in a different airplane than normal because "my" airplane is having about $9000 worth of unscheduled engine work done to it.

My planned flight for the checkride was to Springfield, IL. We took off on runway 32 and got vectored around to the south, and joined V9 ("Victor niner," a low-altitude airway). After reaching cruising altitude and being handed over to Rockford approach, I canceled the flight plan at the examiner's request (this is normal for a checkride). I got hit with a bunch of stuff at once: From a heading of 045 (northeast), a clearing turn to 360 while slowing to 65 knots, then clearing turn to 090. After starting the second turn, I had to keep the lower power setting I was using to slow down and stall in the turn at that power setting.

Next, I had to intercept the 001 radial off JVL (Janesville VOR, a radio navigation aid) and fly north on it. Then, I was given some holding instructions. Due to a misunderstanding, I started the hold south of the fix. The DPE (designated pilot examiner), playing ATC (air traffic control), asked that I read the approach clearance back to him and gave me an amended clearance that had me holding north of the fix.

After entering the hold, we did unusual attitudes, where I had to put my head down so I couldn't see anything but my lap and the examiner put the plane into various positions (such as nose up and banked way over to the side) that you wouldn't normally encounter. I've gotten really good at those and easily recovered from all of them.

Finally, it was time for the approaches. We started out with the ILS 36. (ILS = "Instrument Landing System," consisting of a pair of radio beams - the Localizer which provides horizontal guidance and the Glideslope which provides vertical guidance.) This was fairly easy, I had lots of time to get set up for it and, well, it's an ILS. The localizer was nailed, and the glideslope was too until about 100 feet above DH (Decision Height, where you either have to be able to see the airport to land, or execute a "missed approach" and climb back out). I still kept it within one dot (the gauge has five dots on each side of center, and you must keep the needles within three dots of center for the entire approach to pass the ride.)

We missed off that approach and got vectors for a climb to do the full VOR 32 approach. There was a nice wind out of the West, so I ended up getting basically dumped right on top of the VOR and cleared for the approach in short order, not nearly enough time to get set up. I asked for a hold so I could have more time, ATC offered vectors instead. Due to time constraints, the DPE acted as my autopilot for a moment so that we could avoid either of the above. (I did at least think to start my timer when crossing the VOR.) I quickly set up and briefed the approach, did the procedure turn, and headed inbound. This approach was done "partial panel," with some of the instruments covered up. This approach went quite well also. We got the option this time (when ATC clears you for "the option" you are cleared for your choice of a landing, touch and go, or low approach) and I did a touch and go.

Finally, the non-precision circling approach. We got vectored back around for the ILS to 36 but the #1 radio failed just after I went missed off the last approach. I quickly tuned Approach and Tower into #2 (Hooray for flip-flop radios - They allow you to have both an active and a standby frequency and switch between them with the touch of a button). I also tuned the localizer into #2. Unfortunately, only the #1 radio is equipped with a glideslope, making this a Localizer-only approach. We climbed to 3000 and were assigned a 200 heading. Enough time for a trip through the approach checklist. Everything's clicking, I informed Approach that we wanted to circle to land on runway 32. Almost there!

Next, I got a vector to 070, completed the landing checklist, and we were given the approach clearance: "Archer 8262 Sierra, three miles from OZMIX, turn left heading 020, maintain two thousand seven hundred until established, cleared ILS 36, localizer only at your discretion." The localizer was alive before I even started the turn, so I continued the turn all the way to the inbound course and managed to get the needle centered perfectly right off the bat. OK, we're established, we're high, we can go down. I began the descent.

One minute later...

DPE: "Where's OZMIX?"
Me: Oh &*()@%.

I knew without even looking that I was still outside the final approach fix, where I needed to be at 2500 feet or more. I knew I was WAY too low, and I knew that I failed.

DPE: "That's too bad, because you were flying a beautiful checkride. Until that happened, you were at ATP (Airline Transport Pilot) standards for the whole ride."

That statement kind of surprised me because it was awfully bumpy today and I had to work hard just to fly straight. But, it was going really well. It certainly reminded me of the quote: "That was some of the best flying I've ever seen - Right up to where you got killed." (From Top Gun)

The problem: I was at 3,000 feet. I was OK to descend to 2,700. I was on the Localizer portion of the approach, but my brain was on the ILS and I forgot to stop the descent and wait for the fix.

So, I scheduled a re-check for 9 AM the next morning and went back up with my instructor for another approach. The lesson with my instructor went just fine, and I flew the approach I'd screwed up earlier well within standards.

The next morning, I took another quick hop with the DPE, flew an excellent VOR 18 approach, and now I'm carrying a new Temporary Airman Certificate with the words "Instrument Airplane" on it. Woohoo!

Next up, the Commercial pilot certificate!

Flying in the soup

I wanted to fly today, but when I woke up in the morning the forecast didn't look good:

FM1800 14015KT 2SM TSRA BR BKN007 OVC030CB
FM2100 14011KT 1 1/2SM -TSRA BR OVC005CB
FM0000 12009KT 2SM -TSRA BR OVC004CB

Tangling with thunderstorms is not a good idea in any sort of aircraft. However, after the flying club board meeting which brought me to the airport anyway, I looked at the weather again. The thunderstorms had completely missed, but there were some great instrument conditions remaining:

KMSN 021953Z 13012KT 1 1/2SM -DZ BR OVC006 07/06 A2968 RMK AO2 RAE29DZB29 SLP055 P0000 T00670056
(Translated: 1.5 mile visibility, light drizzle, mist, 600 foot overcast, temp 7C (6.7), dewpoint 6C (5.6), barometric pressure 29.68, rain ended 29 past the hour, drizzle began 29 past the hour)

Low visibility, low overcast, and surface temperatures well above freezing. I checked for pilot reports, and found no pireps for ice below 12,000 feet. The weather briefing confirmed that there would be no danger of icing or thunderstorms, so I filed a flight plan to a nearby intersection and back into Madison. La Crosse was the only nearby alternate that was both legal and feasible, with ceilings up at 1500 feet.

I quickly briefed my instructor and headed for the south ramp to preflight. When I went out onto the ramp, I noticed that the water tower to the west that's about 3 miles away was completely obscured, and the control tower, 1 mile away, was just a silhouette in the mist. The wooded hill on the north end of the field was similarly faint.

After preflight, I looked around again, and noticed that conditions had deteriorated noticeably. The control tower was just a very faint outline. There was a noticeable silence around the airport - Nobody else had come in while I was preflighting.

KMSN 022153Z 12006KT 1SM -DZ BR OVC004 07/07 A2961 RMK AO2 SLP030 P0000 T00720067

We jumped in and fired up. The ATIS (weather and airport information recording) was now listing a 400-foot overcast and 1 mile visibility. After checking the VOR's and setting up the radios, I called for my clearance, and then taxied to runway 21.

On takeoff, I was just looking down to confirm that the airspeed indicator was alive when Joe said "Instrument takeoff." I stayed on the gauges, probably a good idea as the horizon, what there was of it, would be pretty much invisible just after rotation. It was actually easier to transition during the roll than it usually is in the air.

The airplane swam through the murk. Trusty gauges inside, nothing visible outside except for the plane itself and the dull gray goo surrounding us. As we climbed, the gray got brighter and brighter as we approached the top of the clouds, but we never broke out of them.

We elected to fly the ILS 18 approach first because it has the lowest minimums. With the deteriorating conditions, it would be best to start diverting to our alternate as soon as possible if the weather was too low to come back into Madison.

I'll spare you the vectors and skip ahead to the fun part. We're cleared for the approach and handed off to Tower. Tower clears us to land and reports "RVR greater than 6,000 feet." (RVR=Runway Visual Range, basically visibility only more accurate.) The ILS 18 approach requires an RVR of 2400 or more and a ceiling of 200 feet.

I intercepted the glideslope and began to descend. Decision height for this approach is 1060 feet MSL (mean sea level), or 200 feet AGL (above ground level). I watched the altimeter tick down as the grayness outside got darker. Still no sight of anything else. At 1560 I began my callouts. "Five hundred feet to descend." Nothing visible out the front except the cowling. "Four hundred." Still nothing. "Three hundred." Nothing. Are we going to make it in? "Two hundred." About 5 seconds later, I saw a row of strobe lights piercing the gray. "Approach lights in sight." The remainder of the approach lights appeared, appearing to float in the sea of gray. "One hundred." The runway threshold lights appeared, and about the first 2/3 of the runway side lights. "Runway environment in sight."

I floated quite a ways down the runway because I was still at approach speed until I was very close to the runway. I landed and taxied back and copied another clearance down from tower. And once again, off we go into the wild gray yonder, vectored around to the ILS 21 approach this time.

The radio, very quiet up until now, squawked. "Madison information Quebec now current, winds one one zero at eight, visibility three quarters."

KMSN 022221Z 11008KT 3/4SM -DZ BR OVC004 07/07 A2959 RMK AO2 TWR VIS 1 P0001

The ILS 21 has the highest minimums of the three ILS approaches at MSN at 1137 MSL, partially due to the fact that the approach end of 21 is at the highest elevation on the field and the first half of the runway goes downhill.

Again, I intercepted the final approach course and then the glideslope and followed them on down. "Five hundred... Four hundred... Three hundred... Two hundred..." Nothing but gray outside. "One hundred." Are we gonna make it? About 40 feet above DH, the approach lights began to shine through the murk ahead, and the closest parts of the airport slowly, magically appeared out of nowhere right in front of the airplane. Sweet.

I pulled power earlier this time so I wouldn't float, and touched down on the runway. It was still difficult to see much except the runway and the grass immediately off to the side. The control tower was basically invisible, so we reported that we were down and were given clearance to taxi to the ramp.

These conditions were the lowest I've ever flown in, and while it was nice to have an instructor aboard, I really didn't need him. I think it's about time I get this rating!

"Instrument flying is an unnatural act, probably punishable by God." --Gordon Baxter, pilot