Quote:
Originally Posted by fish314  Hmm.. The military (USAF) teaches this too, but they use the 6 T's, rather than the 5 T's:
Time
Turn
Throttles
Twist
TRACK
Talk
I think the reason that the TURN comes before the TWIST in the USAF is because they don't use a seperate CI and DG. Most airplanes have either an RMI or an HSI (usually an HSI).
Then we add TRACK, to remind people that once you've turned to your heading you still need to get over to the course, if you've got one available.
Lastly, we put TALK at the end, which I guess is in keeping with the idea of AVIATE, NAVIGATE, COMMUNICATE.
Either way, the 5 T's or the 6 T's is a useful tool crossing ANY fix, not just a holding fix. You can use it crossing the IAF on an instrument approach, or when crossing the FAF, or the Holding Fix, etc., etc. Just throw out the T's which are not applicable to whatever it is you are doing. |
There's probably a version with 7, 8 and 9 Ts also. We tend to go overboard with these things. (So tell me, has there been some sort of problem with pilots figuring out their entry, turning to the correct headings, twisting the VOR and then completely forgetting to TRACK the course?)
Order is another. You can come up with plenty of examples where one order or another will make more sense. Personally, I think of the Ts as a mental checklist of a set of subtasks that need to be accomplished - a briefing before reaching the fix and a checklist after the subtasks are accomplished to make sure something was missed. The exact order (I heard TIME TURN and TURN TIME with their respective proponents although TALK is universally at the end) doesn't matter as much as the fact that you accomplish them.