Approach

[Sandesh]

Dear fellow aviators,
How do you manage the high workload during a precision and non-precision approach? How do you prepare yourself for the approach, any checklist or tricks or tips?



Thank you for all of your Comments,
Sandesh

[Dazzler]

Originally Posted by Sandesh

Dear fellow aviators,
How do you manage the high workload during a precision and non-precision approach? How do you prepare yourself for the approach, any checklist or tricks or tips?



Thank you for all of your Comments,
Sandesh

Use a memory aid!

I use MICE ATM CARD to help prepare for the approach...

Marker beacons on
Identify and tune (VORs/ILS/etc)
Course set and reviewed (Check OBS)
En-route (are we getting radar vectors? flying the full procedure?)

Altitudes (Glideslope intercept, DH)
Time (From FAF to MAP)
Missed approach procedure

Current position
ATIS
Radios set
Descent checklist

Then over the FAF, it's the 6 Ts...
Time
Turn
Twist
Throttle
Talk
Turn the lights on

Hope that helps!

[MidlifeFlyer]

The biggest thing I see about not handling the workload is looking at the trees instead of the forest. Look at that "memory aid" ferinstance. If you can manage to remember what all those letters stand for, it's an aid to covering a bunch of details. But notice that none of the letters refer to the plan view.

I think it's the plan view that gives you the situational awareness to give context to the details on the chart, and is really the place to start. It being situationally aware about the 3 most important things in IFR flight - where you are, where you are going, and how you are going to get there.

The details? Well, I don't think you need a memory aid when Jeppesen did such a good job spending big bucks to research and create the Briefing Strip that NACO immediately stole the idea.

BTW, have you worked on a power configuration chart? Do you set up your radios as early as you can, tuning the next frequency into the backup so early, that there's never a no-longer needed in there, and the next one you expect is? It's really SOPs like that help to take what is heavy workload and make it more manageable - an where memory tricks - used as a =training= aid - should, IMHO, ultimately lead.

[mtsu_av8er]

AMICEATM, and good, motivating music!

[casey]

practice, muscle memory, practice, standard call outs, practice, thorough briefs, practice, checklists, practice.

[dc3flyer]

practice, practice, practice, practice......


In training, you are shooting 3,4, maybe 6 approaches per lesson. It is A LOT of work. In "real world" flying, you have an hour to prepare for an approach. By the time you are about to really shoot an ILS on your first IFR cross-country, you will be like, "Man, what is so hard about this?"

During training, you know several approaches are gonna be coming at you REALLY fast. Just go through the approach plate from top to bottom and set everything up:
This is an ILS approach into ABC airport. Loc frequency is 111.7. Inbound course is 141 and it is set in Nav 1 and 2. Blah, blah, blah. Look at the overall picture. I am going to cross BLANK intersection at 2,500' where I should intercept the glideslope. I am gonna take it down to 387', which is 200' above touchdown zone. Should I have to go missed I am gonna do this.

It is all on the plate, just read it. Too many people try to make the approach brief way too complicated.