How to Prepare for Your
Instrument Flight Pilot Test - part 5
OK, rest time is over and it is time to get back to slaving over that hot yoke and those round dials, or maybe I should say that hot screen instead.
Non precision approaches are next. Two different approaches are required and they can be any approach the aircraft is equipped to conduct. If the aircraft is equipped with an operable approach certified GPS system, a GPS approach must be demonstrated. Further, if the aircraft is equipped with a functioning autopilot, the pilot will be asked to demonstrate its use during one of the non precision approaches.
Just as we did for the ILS approach, get the weather, be sure you understand the approach and confirm that you have all the radios properly tuned and identified prior to starting the approach. Another item that must be reviewed for the non precision approach is how to indentify the missed approach point. It could be time, a crossing radial, DME distance, GPS position or something else, but in any case it’s a little late to think about that if you have already passed the FAF and are on your way to MDA. So don’t accept the approach clearance until you are ready.
After passing the FAF, you need to get the airplane down to the MDA. Failing to get down to MDA in time to break out and make a landing with a “normal” rate of descent means we will see the airport but may not be able to land on it. I often see pilots who start the approach with a low rate of descent and when they realize they are running out of time they increase the descent rate as they approach MDA. This often results in descending below MDA. It is much better to start with a higher rate of descent and then reduce it as you approach MDA. Remember the tolerance for altitude at MDA is minus 0 feet.
As in the ILS, you need to track the appropriate course rather than chasing that needle. Non precision approaches are just that and any deviation we create from center line makes it that much worse. We need to be aligned so as to make an approach and landing using “normal maneuvering.”
Always be alert on any instrument approach for equipment failure and keep those fail flags in your scan. If you are making a GPS approach you must confirm that the GPS has transitioned to the approach mode prior to passing the FAF. To make an approach in any other mode does not provide the accuracy required.
One approach must be conducted with partial panel or standby instruments. When you recognize you have lost a system, you of course will advise ATC and most likely declare an emergency. This is the time you want all the help you can get. Here again many pilots tend to chase the needle because they fail to keep a desired heading in mind that will track the course. In this situation some pilots find it helpful to make only half rate turns to avoid this problem.
As you approach the missed approach point one of three things are going to happen. You will land, miss or circle to land on another runway. If you see the required visual references and are in a position to land straight in using normal maneuvering and normal descent rates you can do so.
If you are going to circle you must use the appropriate circling minimums. While circling you can not allow the aircraft to climb as that will put you back in the clouds and you can not descend below the minimums until you are in a position to make a normal descent for landing. You must also stay within the protected area which is 1.3 or 1.5 miles for category A or B aircraft respectively so don’t turn the pattern into a cross country trip.
Of course, if you don’t see the required visual references at the MAP or if any one of a number of other bad things happen, you must do a missed approach. The most important thing to do on a missed approach is climb. I often see the pilot add power and then look down at the approach plate to confirm the missed approach instructions; meanwhile, the aircraft is accelerating off into space but not climbing. On every missed approach that I have ever seen the first instruction is to climb. So you don’t need to look at the approach plate to get that first step. After the climb is established you can read a little if you need to. You will be expected to climb at the proper speed and complete the published missed approach unless it is modified by the examiner.
There you have it. After months of study and hours of toil under the hood you may be able to finally take that hood off and fly home VFR. Congratulations; you have a lot to be proud of. Many pilots will tell you that getting the instrument rating is the most difficult.
This might also be a good time to remember back to how much you learned after you got your private certificate. That is where you now are with the instrument. To stay safe, you must keep practicing and studying.
Do that and you will always KEEP IT SAFE.
By Wally Moran