Light Gun Signals

Do you know the light gun signals that are used in case of a radio failure or if your aircraft is not equipped with a radio? Air Traffic Control (ATC) will use a signal lamp to give you instructions and clearance limits. The light gun has a focused bright beam and is capable of emitting three different colors: red, white and green. You have to look closely but they are visible from a surprising distance away. These colors may be flashed or steady, and have different meanings to aircraft depending if you are in flight or on the ground. Pilots can acknowledge the instructions by “rocking” their wings, moving the ailerons if on the ground, or by flashing their landing or navigation lights during hours of darkness. Here’s a quick refresher to the signals used:

Flashing Green on the Ground: 
Cleared to Taxi

   

 Flashing Green in the Air: 

Cleared to approach, or return to land

         


                                                

Steady Green on the Ground:    
Cleared for Takeoff                                               

Steady Green in the Air:

Cleared to Land

                                                                              
Steady Red on the Ground:  
Stop                                             
 

Steady Red in the Air:

Continue to circle, give way to other traffic

                                                                  
Flashing Red on the Ground:   
Immediately taxi clear of runway in use                                                        

                 

Flashing Red in the Air:

Airport unsafe, DO NOT LAND

                                     
Alternating Red/Green on the ground:  
Exercise Extreme Caution                                        

Alternating Red/Green in the Air:

Exercise Extreme Caution

    
Flashing White on the Ground:   
Return to starting point                                             






        

There is no flashing white in the Air: 

Securing Your Airplane

Did you ever arrive at your destination airport and discover that you really don’t know how to properly tie down the airplane? If so, take a look at these easy to tie knots and with a little practice you will be ready the next time you tie your airplane down.


There are different kinds of knots one can tie, but I have chosen to illustrate the two most commonly used, the bowline and the double locking half hitch.
Obviously the type of lines available at different tiedown spots are varied but chains offer the best security followed by nylon rope with at least 3000-pound breaking strength (1/2″ diameter) for singles and 4000-pound breaking strength for light twins.




It is important to never tie the lines directly to the struts but instead use the tie down rings provided. Ropes can easily slip to a point where even slight side pressures can damage them. Allow for about an inch of movement “play” when the lines are tightened but be careful not to overtighten as this could exert inverted flight stresses on the aircraft.
The tiedown lines should also be angled forward from the wings to the anchor spot and aft from the tail to the anchor spot. This will give the best protection and security to hold down the aircraft.

Double Locking Half Hitch- The animation at the left shows the first set of half hitches being tied, a second set (identical to the first) should be tied about six inches to one foot below the first to complete the knot.  Click the photo to play the animation.


• Run the line through the tiedown ring from the back of the airplane to the front.
• Circle the line under, then over, the aft line, then through and behind the loop (front line) for the first half hitch.
• Repeat and circle the line again under the aft line, then over and in front of the just created half hitch, then through and behind the front line loop.
• Pull down to lock the first set of half hitches and then tie a second set 6-12″ lower to complete the tiedown knot.

Bowline- The animation at the left shows the bowline knot, it should be tied about six to twelve inches below the tiedown ring.  Click the photo to play the animation.


• Run the line through the tiedown ring from the back of the airplane to the front.
• Create a loop on the aft line by twisting a section of rope backwards towards you so that the loop faces the front of the airplane and the aft line (running down to the ground) is behind the line (running up to the tiedown ring).
• Thread the line through and over the loop just created, then under the aft line, circle it back around and over the aft line.
• Finish the knot by threading the line back through the loop and pull it tight.
Don’t forget to set the brakes and install the gust locks if you intend to leave the aircraft for the night or extended period of time. Hopefully these knots will serve you well and if you would like more information about securing your aircraft take a look at the Federal Aviation Administration’s circular AC20-35C “Tiedown Sense”.
Click here to get the FAA Tiedown Sense advisory circular AC20-35C.

S Turns

It should be as easy as crossing the street right?

Learning to fly may be fun and exciting, but the process is anything but. That compounds when it comes to flying ground reference maneuvers. Most of the most common problems stems from the fact that we must divide our attention between multiple tasks as we constantly make adjustments to keep the aircraft on the right ground track. A few have virtually no problems, but most find it both a challenge and a struggle.

Ground reference maneuvers are both important and necessary. The skills you learn from are necessary in many portions of flight, but most importantly in your landings. And come on, after all, landing is the ultimate ground reference maneuver, requiring precision, rapid corrections, and smooth coordination of the flight controls.


When i was learning, besides landings, the second most difficult ground reference maneuver was S-turns.  During this maneuver, we fly a series of CONSTANT-RADIUS S-turns along a reference line.  The problem that i encountered was mastering the proper entry, and did not fully understand to connection between bank angles, and wind drift.  Once i started to understand how one effects the other, i was able to learn to fly this maneuver without any trouble.

How we enter

Before we do anything, we have to get ready.  Checklist, Configure the aircraft, Proper altitude, Clearing Turns.  Remember clearing turns.  You want to ENSURE the area is clear of traffic.  Doesn't hurt to be on flight following when doing maneuvers.  We need to enter this on the downwind, just like any ground reference maneuver; landing, turns around a point, turns around a rectangle (Landing Pattern?)  If we don't enter this maneuver on the downwind, it will definitely cause a flux of problems with the maneuver.

Are you wondering why we need to enter this on the downwind?  It allows us to establish the proper maximum bank.  But the problem is we need to know where the wind is coming from, to enter on the downwind.

Most common misconception

That doesn't mean if we enter on the downwind, we have nothing to worry about.  If we don't understand the maneuver we will continue to have problems.  Those problems are when to increase and decrease the bank angle to keep on our CONSTANT-RADIUS, and keep us where we NEED to be.


It makes sense that when flying crosswind on the downwind side of the road, the wind is blowing us away from the road, and that we would need the greatest bank angle to get us back to the road.  It also makes sense that when flying crosswind on the upwind side of the road, the wind is blowing us towards the road, and a steep bank angle would help us complete that portion of the turn more quickly.  The simple fact is that flying the S-turns by this logic will cause us to fail each time.

How do we do it?

To succeed in this we MUST understand the relationship between rate of turn, bank angle, and ground speed.  To understand S-turns, we will talk about a less-complex maneuver; turns about a point.  The point of this is to fly a CONSTANT-RADIUS, CONSTANT-ALTITUDE turn around a reference point somewhere on the ground.

I have a fast car, so this is how i think of it.  Imagine a race car going around a circular track that is two miles in circumference.  If this race car is going 60 mph, the car will complete a lap around the entire track in two minutes.  Since the car completes a entire lap in two minutes, the rate of turn for the car is 360 degrees every two minutes, or 3 degree per second.  Now lets take that same race car, on the same track, and punch the throttle, till we get up to 120 mph.  Now we are really moving.  This car can complete a lap in 60 seconds.  Our rate of turn would be 360 degree per 60 seconds, or 6 degrees per second.  Now the rate of turn required to complete a full lap over the ground depends on speed.  The faster the speed, the greater the rate of turn.

So lets take that same race track, and fly over it.  (Not while spectators are there.  They might get a little scared.) Lets fly over it at between 600 and 1,000 feet AGL.  If we were flying at exactly 60 mph on a perfectly calm morning, we would need a rate of turn of 3 degree per second which is a standard rate turn according to the turn and slip indicator, to stay over the track.  If we increase our speed to 120 mph, we would then need to keep a rate of turn of 6 degree per second to stay over the track.  Remember from above, increasing the speed to 120 mph requires a rate of turn of 6 degree per second.  But remember when selecting your airspeed, remember to not exceed Va (Maneuvering speed). For your check ride as well as your practice, keep within PTS standards, which is +/- 10 kts.


The angle of bank we use controls our rate of turn.  The steeper the angle of bank, the greater rate of turn is achieved.  Now remember from above, the rate of turn depends on our speed.  And remember the bank angle controls our rate of turn.  The faster we fly, a greater bank angle is required to keep the same rate of turn.  The bank angle should NEVER exceed 45 degree.  


When we fly we usually never get a calm no wind day.  So lets spice this up a bit.  It's a windy afternoon.  We are flying over the same race track.  Our ground speed is going to change constantly because of the wind.  So we would in turn have to change our rate of turn, to keep over the track.  We change our rate of turn by using the bank angle.  As the ground speed increases, we will be forced to increase our bank angle.  As the ground speed decreases, we will be forced to decrease our bank angle.  Our ground speed will be the most when we are ...  Anyone?  Anyone?  downwind.  That is the point when the bank angle needs to be the greatest.  That is why we start this on the downwind.  We roll into our turn when abeam the reference point, and now we know each of the remaining point in the turn, our bank angle will be less that it was when we started.  When the nose is pointed into the wind, ground speed is low, and the bank angle is the least.


S-turns can be through of as a series of turns about a point, but simply split in half roughly upwind and downwind, then linked together end to end.  Again we enter downwind and establish our maximum bank angle as the reference point (the road) passes beneath the wing.  The bank angle will decrease to a minimum when we recross the road headed upwind.  When we cross the road, we only for a second, roll the wings level, then establish the bank in the opposite direction.  The bank angle slowly increases as we complete the next 180 degrees of turn, reaching the maximum bank bangle as we cross the road.  Again, we roll the wings level just for a second, and then roll into our maximum bank in the opposite direction and continue doing this over and over.

Other problems

Too often we can be fooled into thinking we fly a lot better than we really do.  This can also be the case in S-turns.  In light or calm wind, flying S-turns will make you think it's easy, and your doing perfect.  But that is because you cant see your mistakes.  To make these mistakes evident, try to fly S-turns in a 10-15 knot wind, that is blowing virtually perpendicular to your reference line.  With this wind, you will need to make the proper corrections, and any mistakes will start to be visible as deviations in your ground track.  After all your trying to fly a CONSTANT-RADIUS turn.


Since flying S-turns can be likened to a series of turns about a point, we need to pick points along the way as we fly the maneuver.  If our points are too close, we will try to use excessive bank angles and rush the maneuver.  That would end up sloppy at best.  If our points are too far away, the turns will become too big and the banks too shallow.  In general, the reference points selected along the reference line should be separated by about 3/4th of a mile.  Add a little more distance if we are flying faster, and a little less if we are flying slower.


During the check ride, look out for diversion and distractions while flying this maneuver.  Some instructors will attempt to distract you by asking innocuous questions about features on the ground, or features of the airplane, or questions about the instruments, or engine. (Is it normal for the ammeter to read five amps?  Why is there more fuel in one of the tanks.  Whats the altimeter setting?).  Some may even simulate an engine failure during this, just to see you have a hold of the airplane, and the situation.  So bottom line is divide your attention, don't get distracted, and above all be prepared.  I even read of one instructor dropping his pencil and asking the pilot to help him grab it while they were performing this maneuver.  Expect the unexpected!

Tie it all in!

Those are the key elements.  As long as we remember those elements we will be able to gain control and keep flight under control and coordinated.  So lets review.  There is more to this maneuver than just keeping the correct ground track and altitude.  We must also maintain situational awareness as we fly.  This involves looking for traffic, monitoring the traffic, and being prepared for emergencies.  


TO begin we must know where the prevailing surface wind are coming from.  Next, we have to select a suitable ground reference that is a relatively straight line perpendicular to the wind.  This can be a road, river, shoreline, power lines, railroad tracks, or any other reference that is similar.  We start ourselves about a mile upwind of our reference, we then get the aircraft to the desired speed, and complete any checklist that we have.  Do out clearing turns to make sure the area is clear of traffic, and if we are not already at our altitude, descend or climb to the required altitude, most of the time 600 - 1,000 feet AGL.


When we are ready, we will head downwind straight for our road, river, or what ever reference we are using, and as we cross it at a 90 degree angle, we pick a point along the road to use as a reference for the first 180 degree turn.  We roll into our bank of 30-40 but never above 45 degree.  Watch the reference point as we slowly roll out the bank to maintain a constant radius from the reference point.


We would crosscheck our speed, altitude, bank angle, and occasionally the engine instruments.  Keep an eye out for traffic, as well as possible emergency landing sites, just incase something goes wrong.  


As we fully complete our first 180 degree upwind turn, we should have the minimum bank angle, and we should cross the reference line at a 90 degree angle.  Before we roll level across the reference line, we need to be sure to check again for traffic, and any obstructions in the direction in which we will be turning.


Once we cross the reference line at 90 degree we would momentarily level our wings, and pick our next reference point, as we roll into the next turn.  We would cross check our speed, altitude, and engine instruments, along with traffic, as we increase the bank slowly to maintain the CONSTANT-RADIUS from the reference point.  We should once again be in our max bank of 30-40 degree before we cross the reference line a second time.  As we cross the reference line again, we would roll the wings level momentarily, and pick our next point, and then roll into the maximum bank in the opposite direction.  


We continue to do this back and forth.  Sounds easy?  Maybe too easy?  Well, after some understanding of the principles behind all of this, and some practice, this should be as easy as crossing the street.

Night Xcountry KAPV KCCB

The flight for our night xcountry was schedule for Friday, at 7:30.  For this flight we had to go further than 100 miles, and I still needed 4 landings to complete the requirements of 10 night landings.  So we were going to fly to Apple Valley and perform 3 landings there.  While in route we would do some hood work to get the requirements met.  That would put the 92 mile trip well into 100 with the hood work we were doing, and changing course to compass headings.   Then come back to Van Nuys and do the 4^th landing there at our home field.  I think he chose Apple Valley for a few reasons.  There is terrain around there that I need to be wary of, there is KVCV airspace right up on KAPV.  Additionally one of the runways is closed at night, so that should make it a little easier (I don’t think mike expected me to know that.  He was impressed when I told him that they runway was closed at night).  The proposed flight would take us from Van Nuys, north to Magic Mountain (VPLMM), then track the 053 degree inbound radial to the Palmdale VOR (PMD), at which point, we would the track the 081 degree outbound radial, to just past Southern California Logistics (KVCV).  Once out of KVCV airspace we would descend, while entering crosswind into the pattern, then I would continue downwind, at which time our altitude should be pattern altitude.

So by 6:30 I had the weather.  There were thunderstorm cells all over the place.  But they were at 15000’, so we were going to be well below them.  Most of the storms should be just north of our route, or to the west, and I was fine with both of those.  I’m glad we have the g1000 for this trip, as it has topology, so I can see if I’m close to any terrain around us, and we have the NEXRAD as well, so we would be able to monitor the weather.  I was at first iffy about the trip, as I was not comfortable with the weather, but mike ensured me it would be fine, and at first sign of deteriorating weather we would turn back.  We did not want to climb over mountainous terrain with downdrafts from the storms.  So we had it as a readily available option to turn back at any time.  So I felt better about it at that point.  I also did not hear once during my call to WXBRIEF “VFR NOT RECOMMENDED”.  They just told me about all of the thunderstorms around the area, and any Sigmets/Airmets that were current. 

I met mike at the airport at 7:30 and soon I was doing my preflight.  The plane was fine, although it was hard to see the oil level in the dark with a flashlight.  I think the oil was just changed, as it was almost clear color.  Although with the touch of my finger I could feel the oil was between the 6 and 8 on the dip stick.  I was also using just a blue/green/or red light as I did not want to look at or have a bright white light anywhere close to me to screw up my night vision, so that might be why it was so hard to see on the dipstick.  Soon we were inside to start her up, and I took an extra 5 minutes to get the AFD in the front pocket, all pens and flashlights in a place that I could easily find in the dark, as well as getting my flight plan, and sectional charts in order and in the correct places.  I got my checklist in the front pocket as well.  Ran through the checklist, and we were ready to go.   Contacted tower and was told to stand by for landing traffic.  Once I heard that, I turned off the taxi lights and just kept on the beacon and nav lights.  I did not want to blind the landing traffic. 

We were cleared for a right downwind departure at the flood basin.  We climbed to 2000’ and maintained altitude until we were out of Burbank’s airspace.  Then we initiated a climb up to 5500’.  This would get us over the mountains and leave us with sufficient room of buffer from the mountains.  At the Newhall pass, we turn to start and follow the 14 freeway.  It is the lowest point going through the mountains, and if we lose an engine, we have something to land on, rather than mountains and darkness.  This is one of mikes biggest things about xcountry is making sure to ALWAYS have somewhere to put her down if needed.  He is always telling me on my xcountry solo’s to always have somewhere in mind at all times, that I can put her down if needed.  Because you never know when to expect a failure and you always want a way out in those cases.

During this entire time, we are seeing the lightning strikes everywhere in the sky.  Just about everywhere you looked, you would see lightning cutting through the clouds and lighting up the sky like it was day time for a slight moment.  Then back to darkness.  It was unnerving, surreal, and beautiful all at the same time.

Once we got to 5500’, Mike tells me, put on the hood.  I ask him to take control the aircraft as I put it on.  But we have to make sure who has the airplane.  Once I asked him he said “Sure.  I have the airplane”.  I then repeated “You have the airplane”, and then he repeated “I have the airplane”.  You ALWAYS want to do this 3 step procedure, as to ensure positive transfer of control of the aircraft by someone.  I told mike, he had the airplane, he told me he had the airplane, and I repeated so he knows I heard he has the plane.  Then I let go of the controls.  I did not release until that was complete, as I wanted someone to have control of the airplane at all times.  This is a MUST in your check ride as well.  The examiner likes to see that someone is in control of the plane at every moment, and that you both know exactly who is controlling the aircraft.

I put the hood on and he gives control of the aircraft back to me.  He then puts a little twist on it.  He takes a wash rag, and covers the PDF and says I just had a failure of the PDF.  I don’t think he was expecting what I did next as it caught him off guard.  I push the red reversionary mode button and brought the PDF to the MDF screen.  He tells me that’s cheating and takes a wash rag and puts it over that one as well.  CRAP.  Now to the standby gauges.  Now all I have is the Attitude indicator, airspeed, altitude, and the compass. 

This was my first time flying with the compass.  He tells me to turn to a 050 heading.  I turn to what direction I think I need to turn to get there on the compass and the compass goes the opposite way.  So the compass is backwards.  If the number is to the right, you need to go to the left to get to it.  Then he asks me when the compass is accurate.  I told him in un-accelerated straight and level flight.  Correct.  Then he asks if I turn to different headings what the compass would do.  I knew of ANDS and NOSL but did not know about UNOS.  These are the deviations of the compass during flight.  *Note these are for the northern hemisphere:

ANDS: Accelerate North, Decelerate South.  So if your speed up it will show a heading change to the north.  And decelerate will show a heading change to the south.

NOSL: North Opposite, South Lead.  If you turn from a north heading, the compass will initially show a turn in the opposite direction, and then catch up.  If you turn from a south heading, the compass will initially show a turn in the correct direction, but at a much faster rate than is actually occurring.

UNOS: Undershoot North, Overshoot South.  If we turn to a north heading, we need to undershoot our compass heading by about 30 degree for north.  If we wanted to turn to 45 degree heading we would undershoot by about 15 degree.  And on east/west we do not under/over shoot.  If we turn to a south heading, we need to overshoot our compass heading by about 30 degree for south.  If we wanted to turn to 225 degree we would overshoot by about 15 degree.  And on east/west we do not overshoot.

Mike told me a good way to remember which way to turn.  It’s like a clock.  If you want a bigger number in the heading turn clockwise.  If you want a smaller number, turn counter clockwise.  That helped a lot while I was flying to think about it that way.  It much easier to remember something, when you can relate it to something you are familiar with.    We did this for about an hour, turning back and forth to different headings.  The entire time though, we stayed within 100 feet of our altitude, and stayed practically right on our headings. 

Mike asks me to take off the hood, which I do.  Then he asks me where we are.  He zoomed out the GPS screen so I can only see we are in California.  But was uncertain where we were exactly.  So I use my trusty sectional chart.  I took at a VOR that is in the area of where we are, and find out what outbound radial we are on.  Turns out we were on the 081 degree radial from the PMD VOR.  Then I tune the EDW VOR and find out we are on the 150 degree radial.  That means we were just due east of Gray Butte Private airfield.  We zoom into the GPS and sure enough, we were only a few miles from the airstrip.  Perfect lost procedure to find out where we are.  The lost procedures are pretty easy, with the exception being night flight.  You cannot use ground references as easily as during the day time.  So VOR navigation is extremely important at night.

We continue our flight over to KAPV, but cannot really see it yet.  I queue the microphone a few times to get the lights to turn on, but we are still unable to see it.  Once out of the KVCV airspace we begin our decent, but also make sure to keep some buffer between us and the ground, since we cannot see any obstructions or mountains in our way.  We get to where the airport is, and still cannot see it.  We fly what would be a normal pattern and mike tells me he sees the runway below but still no lighting.  I’m guessing one of the lightning strikes cut the power to the airport. 

So now we have a real life diversion on our hands.  We initiate a climb up to 6500, and mike tell me we are going to cable airport KCCB, next to Ontario.  He then tunes, 122.0 for flight watch, and request a updated weather briefing, as well as inform them of the power outage at KPAV.  The weather is still looking ok over in the inland valley.  So we now are going to KCCB to get my night landings in to meet the requirements.  Once at 6500’, I pull out my sectional, AFD, and start calculating some things, as well as getting frequencies, weather, runways.  I get everything tuned in, get weather from Ontario, since KCCB does not have an ATIS/ASOS/AWOS.  We are going to be using runway 24 to land, as they are using 26 at Ontario.

From where we are currently flying we would come straight in for a landing.  So once over the mountains, into the inland valley, we begin our descent so we can stay well below Ontario’s Class C airspace.  We maintain 2500.  We stay right on the edge of Ontario’s airspace until right at Cable.  It was easy to see the airport while coming in, but I could not see the runway even with the lights on.  Once we got closer thought, the runway quickly became apparent. 

I announce the position of our aircraft while in route to the CTAF, and announce each 5 miles just about.  The first landing we were high and had a little excess airspeed.  So we floated down about half the runway before touching down.  If we would have floated any longer, I would have elected for a go around, but we still had quite a bit of runway left for stopping.  Upon landing, mike had the same feeling.  He was wondering if I was going to do a go around, but said he would have landed when I did as well.  But any further and he would have initiated a go around.  Funny how both of us fly the same and have the same reactions. 

We perform a taxi back, and take back off into the pattern.  We do another lap in the pattern, and perform a second landing.  The entire time mike and I were talking.  Not sure if that means I am a lot more comfortable now with flying to where I can talk, and not have to fully concentrate on everything I’m doing, as it’s more of a second nature now.  The second landing was much better.  I dislike KCCB as the runway has dips and humps and bumps and the airplane gets moved around a lot when landing.  It also makes braking a bit more difficult and you are in need of constant rudder adjustments to keep the plane on the runway.  We take back off and perform one more lap in the pattern.  This makes 3 landings thus far, and now landing at KVNY would make 4 and complete my requirements. 

The third landing was the best one yet, although I’m a fan of being above glideslope at night rather than below or on glide slope.  I like to give myself some extra buffer for the, what if.  We land and mike commends me for that landing, and then we take back off to come home to KVNY.  We initially climbed to 4500 to stay above other airspace, and once at KEMT we started our descent to 2500 to stay below the outer ring of Burbank at 3000’.  Contact Burbank about 5 miles out and request westbound transition to KVNY.  They vector me in for a left base for runway 16R.  Then hand me off to KVNY just before the Budweiser factory, and I get cleared to land on runway 16R.  Landing there was awesome too.  Good airspeed, good glide slope.  The airplane was flying the approach by itself without me intervening.  I set it up and didn't really touch anything except to round out and flare.


Mike liked my progress through the flight and liked how i kept within PTS limits during the hood work.  I'm suppose to do one more night flight tomorrow, and do some additional hood work so i get my requirements close to being complete.  We are also suppose to land at Burbank.  This will be my first time landing at a class c airport.  I did some reading on this, and it is practically the same thing, except i have to contact approach control and they will hand me off to tower to land.  So it's not too much different than a normal flight into a class D airspace.  Then i have my last long xcountry the Sunday after that.  Stay tuned!

ADF Navigation

ADF (A.K.A Auto Direction Finder) is a simple concept and has a simple operation.  It consist of the radio signals in low to medium frequency band of the spectrum.  Usually 190 - 1750 Khz.  It has a HUGE advantage over VOR's.  This is the reception.  It has a signal that follows the curvature of the earth, and is not limited like VOR's to just a few hundred miles at best.  

The distance depends on the amount of power that is supplied to the beacon.  It can receive on both AM radio station and NDB commercial AM radio stations that broadcast on 540 - 1620 Khz.  Non-Directional Beacon operates in the frequency of 190 - 535 Khz.

COMPONENTS

ADF Receiver : You can tune the station desired, and select the mode of operation. The signal is received, amplified, and converted to audible voice or Morse code and powers the bearing indicator.



Control Box (Digital Readout Type) : Most newer aircraft have this in the cockpit . The frequency tuned is displayed as digital readout. ADF automatically determines the bearing to the selected station and displays it on the RMI.

Antenna : The ADF needs two antennas. The two antennas are called the LOOP antenna and the SENSE antenna. The ADF receives signals on both the loop and the sense antennas. The loop antenna consist of several coils spaced at various angles. The loop antenna sense the direction of the station by the strength of the signal on each coil, but cannot however determine whether the bearing is TO or FROM the station. The sense antenna provides this latter information.

Bearing Indicator : displays the bearing to station relative to the nose of the aircraft. Relative Bearing is the angle formed by the line drawn through the center line of the aircraft and a line drawn from the aircraft to the radio station. Magnetic Bearing is the angle formed by a line drawn from aircraft to the radio station and a line drawn from the aircraft to magnetic north (Bearing to station). Magnetic Bearing = Magnetic Heading + Relative Bearing.



TYPE OF ADF INDICATOR
Four types of ADF indicators are in use today. In every case, the needle points to the navigation beacon.Those four types are:

Fixed Compass Card : It is fixed to the face of instrument and cannot rotate. 0 degree is always straight up as the nose of aircraft.


The relationship of the aircraft to the station is refered to as " bearing to the station " MB or aircraft to magnetic north. This type of indicator, pilot must calculate for the bearing by formula: MB = RB + MH


Rotatable Compass Card : The dial face of the instrument can be rotated by a knob. By rotating the card such that the Magnetic Heading (MH) of the aircraft is adjusted to be under the pointer at the top of the card.


The bearing to station (MB) can be read directly from the compass card without calculation and makes it easy for the pilot. Today, they have designed automatic rotating compass cards to agree with the magnetic heading (MH) of the aircraft . Thus MB to station can be read at any time without manually rotating the compass card on the ADF face.


Single-Needle Radio Magnetic Indicator : Radio Magnetic Indicator is an instrument that combines radio and magnetic information to provide continuous heading, bearing, and radial information.


The face of the single needle RMI is similar to that of the rotatable card ADF.


Dual-Needle Radio Magnetic Indicator : The dual needle RMI is similar to single needle RMI except that it has a second needle. The first needle indicates just like a single needle. In the picture , the yellow needle is a single which indicate the Magnetic Bearing to the NDB station . The second needle is the green needle in the picture. (Still looks yellow, but pointing roughly 014 degree)

The second needle (green) is point to VOR station .The dual needle indicator is useful in locating the location of an aircraft.

OPERATION

ADF operates in the low and medium frequency bands. NDB frequency and identification information may be obtained from aeronautical charts and Airport Facility Directory. The ADF has automatic direction seeking qualities which result in the bearing indicator always pointing to the station to which it is tuned. The easiest and perhaps the most common method of using ADF , is to "home" to the station . Since the ADF pointer always points to the station , the pilot can simply head the airplane so that the pointer is on the 0 (zero) degree or nose position when using a fixed card ADF . The station will be directly ahead of the airplane. Since there is almost always some wind at altitude and you will be allowing for drif, meaning that your heading will be different from your track. Off track , if the aircraft is left of track, the head of the needle will point right of the nose. If the aircraft is right of track, the head of the needle will point left of the nose.

For fixed compass cards, you must use the formular MB = MH + RB to find out what degree the ADF pointer should be on. Today , the fixed card indicators is very unsatisfactory for every day use , but can still be found on aircraft panels. 

For rotatable compass cards, it has huge advantages over the fixed card indicators. The pilot can rotate the compass card with the heading knob to display the aircraft MH "straight up" . Then the ADF needle will directly indicate the magnetic bearing to the NDB station.

For Single needle Radio Magnetic Indicator , the compass card is a directional gyro and it rotates automatically as the aircraft turns and provide continuous heading information. It accurately indicates the magnetic heading and the magnetic bearing to the beacon.

For dual needle Radio Magnetic Indicator, this gives the pilot the same information as the single needle indicator; such as aircraft heading and magnetic bearing to the NDB . The seacond indicator will point to a VOR station . This helps the pilot to check the location of the aircraft at that time.

Hood Work / Unusual Attitudes / Class C Airport Operations

Saturday was the day to complete more requirements.  I arrived at the airport at 3:45 and the weather was beautiful.  No clouds in the sky.  The wind was a little strong but not more than i or the plane could handle.  I walked into Pentastar and met mike there.  We went into the conference room to start and discuss what we were going to do.  We would start out with some pattern work at Burbank, and then finish with some hood work, unusual attitudes, and VOR work.  This is all easy enough.  He briefed me on Class C operations and had me get Clearance Delivery freq just in case they made us land instead of staying in the pattern. 

We had 29 Gallons of fuel.  Enough for some practice, and reserve.  Since we would be burning roughly 9 gallons per hour.  I did my preflight inspection and run up and we were soon off for a right crosswind departure.  I already had the burbank tower freq in my standby when we departed.  So it was a quick switch over to them.  "Burbank tower, skyhawk 889er lima brave, just out of van nuys, request pattern if able".  They cleared me for the option, left base, runway 33.  So it was roughly 90 degree to the left of us.  So we turned towards the runway.  We came in a little high, and had one hell of a cross wind, wing down, and opposite rudder.  We touched down hard, but mike immediately said "Good Landing, Perfect". As he raised the flaps and i put in full power, we took back off and he mentioned again that it was a good landing.  He said yes, it was hard, but the wind was strong, and that is what is needed, to get it on the ground, and keep it there.

"889er lima bravo, make right base runway 26".  So they are having us doing a figure 8.  This is sort of cool.  So we get cleared for the option for 26.  Upon taking off you can not really go cross wind, as there is a MOUNTAIN right in front of you.  So you need to go a climbing turn while turning towards the threshold of runway 33.  This is a difficult airport at first, because we could not do a normal pattern, where you go downwind parallel the runway, and reduce power at the threshold.  So it takes some thinking and steady control, to judge the distance above the ground and to the runway.  You sort of have to "wing" it.  But it turned out perfect.  Mike even commented on how the pattern was thrown in the trash, but i was still able to fly it correctly and safely.  I also did a decent job on judging the distances.

We land and it was more of a headwind then a cross wind on runway 26, so we touched down really slow.  But it was a nice stead slope and we touched down nice and slow.  Awesome landing.  Mike raises the flaps, and i apply full power, and we take back off.  Once in the air tower tells us to make left base runway 33.  So we get to pattern altitude, and we are cleared for the option.  So we come in and do another cross wind landing, this one was very similar to the last one.  We touched on upwind side first, then downwind side, then nose wheel.  Mike is pretty confident now.  It was a little sorter than the last, but crosswind landings are hard to get down soft.  Since the plane is sort of falling on to the other wheel.  Mike raises the flaps, and i apply full power, and we take off.  Again we get cleared for the option, right base runway 26.

While getting over there, mike said he was happy with the pattern and my operations in the airspace.  He told me after landing to request a straight out departure, and we would go over to the practice area.  We come in for a touch and go on runway 26, and we do another really good landing.  Landings are a second nature now.  I have done them so many times, it's all natural now.  Im amazed at how far i have come in a short amount of time.  Upon takeoff i request a straight out departure, and as expected they handed me off to SoCal Departure.  So we take up flight following and start to our 4500' altitude.  Mike then tells me as we are climbing to put on the hood.



So i say Your controls, he confirms, and then i repeat.  I release the controls and grab the hood and put in on, and get it situated.  I then take the controls, and continue the climb up to altitude.  At 4400' i start to level off to slow our ascent and then level off at 4500'.  The whole time i was doing the instrument scan.  Trying to keep us on the exact same heading, and stay on altitude.  There was a stiff wind out so it was a little difficult to keep us on the same heading, but i was able to do it, by flying slightly into the wind, and using the ground track magenta diamond as the reference in the G1000 glass cockpit.  It seemed like it took us an hour to get out to the practice area, not being able to see anything outside, and just flying by reference to instruments.  Once we got out there, Mike then briefed me on unusual attitudes.  He mainly emphasized one point.  ROLL THE WINGS LEVEL, before pulling out of a dive, or pushing out of a nose high climb.  Easy enough.

Mike then tells me to close my eyes and tell him when i think we go into a left or right hand turn.  It takes a second, but i can sense a left turn.  So i say left turn.  Then he says, tell him when i think we are climbing, or descending.  Again it takes a second, but i then say, climbing turn.  He says wow.  Your good.  Then he says tell him when i think we are level.  I can feel the plane come down and level out.  I told him level.  He said WOW.  Ok.  He then says what do you feel.  I feel a dip to the left, and what seems like a descent, i say left descent, and he tells me to open my eyes.  I do, and i see us left wing down, but right rudder to keep us level.  He talks about it for a second, and asks if i read all this, which i have, so i told him yes.  He was just making sure, and showing me how easy it is to get confused by relying on senses in IMC, or IFR conditions.

He then tells me to close my eyes again.  I do, and i feel a roller coaster.  Up,  Down,  Left,  Speed up, Speed Down, Skid, Slip, then i hear, "Your Controls".  I look and we are in a dive, with wings fairly level but not completely.  So i quickly level the wings, pull back power, and pull up to get us into a level attitude.  Then i add power to re-establish level flight.  Then he asks for the controls back.  I give him controls and close my eyes.  Again.  A roller coaster.  For about 45 Seconds.  Then i hear again "Your Controls".  I look, and we are 30-45 degree turn up in the air.  So level the wings, add power, and pitch down to level flight.  Pull back power, once established, and we are back to level flight.  Again, i give mike the controls, and once again roller coaster.  After about 30 seconds, i hear again "Your Controls".  I look, and we are at a 30-40 degree turn pitched down, and gaining speed really quick.  I pull back power, as i level the wings.  Then pull up not too quick, but quickly so that we can bleed off the airspeed that has built up.  Again back to level flight.   Mike was happy with that.  So now he asked me to tune FIM vor.  He took my sectional that get me the correct frequency.

I put it the frequency, and he asked to track some inbound and outbound radials.  He wanted to make sure for inbound radials i used the reciprocal of the current radial we were on, and wanted to make sure i could get onto the course and track it with little to no deviation.  Then he wanted me to intercept a bunch of radials, and then he was happy with my flying.  The whole time i keep us right on altitude.  By making standard rate turns.  That is what made it easy to not over-bank, and to stay at a constant nice easy bank.  It was well within PTS limits.  I was pretty happy with the whole time.  During the VOR we had a discussion of outbound and inbound radials, as that is what my previous post VOR NAVIGATION is all about.

We start to go back to Van Nuys.  But mike does not give me headings.  He wants to see me get back still under the hood.  I put in KVNY as direct to on the g1000, and boom.  I have a line to follow.  So i follow the line, and close to the airport mike tells me to take the hood off.  I do so, and come back to a HECTIC pattern at Van Nuys.  We got told to keep straight at best possible speed, until told by ATC.  This was because there was a bunch of traffic, and he were vectored out of the way for some jets.  I'm perfectly fine with that.  But soon we are getting right to the edge of Burbanks airspace, but i still cant turn as im not sure if the traffic is next to me, and we can not get a radio call in.  Within 10 seconds we are in Burbanks airspace.  By then Mike chimes in quickly "Tower, uhhh niner lima bravo is IN BURBANKS AIRSPACE".  The controller comes back and says "Ohh yea niner lima bravo, reverse course, and cleared to land 34 left.".  I guess he forgot about us.  Mike said we would talk about that when we got back to the airport.

We did a quick 180 as i wanted to get out of burbank and quickly.  We came in for a landing, and it was a SWEET landing.  There was a bit of a crosswind, so it made it a little bit more difficult, but fun at the same time.  I have done so many landings, that the crosswind landings, add a bit of SPICE to it.  We touched on the upwind wheel then the other, then the nose wheel, and turn off at the reverse high speed taxiway exit.  We taxied back to pentastar, and shut her down and put her to sleep for the night.  We went into the conference room at pentastar, and did out debriefing.

All in all it was an awesome fight.  Mike liked it.  Talked to me about the check-ride, and setting the date for it, and a few other things.  He said he thought it was ready, just need to "tighten the screws a bit to fine tune".  He likes how in front of the airplane i am.  I have steady graceful movements and i lead in when i am suppose to.  He also talked about what happened with the controller.  He said that if we would have went any further, maybe call Burbank and tell them we were vectored into their airspace, and we just wanted to let them know, or if we did get questioned, mention what happened with the controller.  He clearly told us to keep straight, and we did.  We could not get a word in edge wise.  We had really no option due to the controller not telling us where the traffic was, and don't want to turn and hit someone.  So we were sort of forced to break into burbank without clearance.  I guess sometimes stuff happens.  I can see how it would be easy to bust into airspace, if you are NOT using a g1000.  It would be hard to thread the needle between airspace.

VOR Navigation

We want to have a way while in the sky, to navigate and get to our location successfully.  At the same time we also need to know how to find out where we are, if we are lost.  There are many ways to do both of these.  But in this discussion we will be talking about VOR's.  Included with VOR's are sometimes DME, which will give additional information based on the VOR's.  

To start with, the first thing we need to understand about Very High Frequency Omnidirectional Range Station is simple. When describing this radial or that radial, we need to remember that there are only FROM radials. Once we understand that, we start to understand VOR navigation more in depth.

VOR's allow you to fly TO them; by flying to the outbound radial on the other side of the station. The radial you are on while flying TO the station is still an outbound radial. This is where one needs to understand the reciprocal; or in other words the "opposite of". For example if you are on the 180° radial, you are on the 180° radial FROM the station, with no direction of flight implied. The reciprocal of 180° is 360° (+2/-2 rule). This is our heading TO the station.

The +2/-2 rule helps you to get the reciprocal of a radial easily, in MOST cases. It works like this. If you are on the 180° radial and want to turn to the reciprocal of 180°, you would add 2 to the first number and subtract 2 from the second number, and carry the third number down. So add 2 to the 1 from 180°, and this makes it 3. Then subtract 2 from the 8 in 180°, and this gives you 6. Carry down the 0 from 180°. So that would give you 360°. This DOESN'T ALWAYS WORK, but in most cases it will. If it doesn't, use common sense to find the answer. An example where it will not work is 010°. The reciprocal would be 290° using the +2/-2 rule. This is incorrect and it should be 190°. But if you use common sense and think 010° is close to 360°. The reciprocal of 360° is 180°. Add the additional 10° from the 010° to 180° and it gives you 190°. You can see how this will help you along your way.

So to reiterate, if you are on the 057° heading FROM the station, to fly TO the station you would again use the +2/-2 rule and you would fly the reciprocal of 057°, or 237° radial (The radial on the other side of 057°). Why do people have problems with VOR tracking and navigation? Because they do not get the concept that, there are NO TO RADIALS. They need to remember there are ONLY FROM RADIALS. The VOR has the radials that extend FROM the station. Once this is ingrained into your head, you will not have problems with navigation any longer.

A VOR tells you where you are and where your destination is. The OBI (Omni Bearing Indicator)gauge on your panel, has two parts: CDI & OBS. The Course Direction Indicator is the needle and the Omnibearing Selector is a knob for turning to the various headings as indicted at the top or bottom (depends on manufacturer) of the OBI. Let's assume our OBI shows the radial we are on at the top of the gauge and the reciprocal heading at the bottom. We only have to concern ourselves with the radial we are on (our position) for now.

If we are flying on a 270° heading, and we tune the FROM radial of a VOR, with a centered OBS needle and it shows 180°. We know we are on the 180° radial heading 270°. If DME is included, we now know our distance from the station. We know that 180° is south of the station, so we now know 360° TO the station. We turn to the right to 360° TO the station, still on the 180° radial FROM the station.

So we want to fly is on the R-270 45 DME.  So we know 270° is to the left since we are flying to the North.  As we get close to the station, the needle will become VERY sensitive to heading changes.  At this point we need to NOT CHASE THE NEEDLE, but fly a constant heading while in this "cone of confusion".  This sensitivity, stems from the passage over the station.  At this point we would shortly thereafter receive an OFF indication to signal we are over the station.

Before we can use an intercept procedure, we must decide which radial to intercept and whether we are going to intercept the radial inbound or outbound. If the radial is an airway, this must be determined from a chart.

1. tune the OBI to the station and audio identify
2. to intercept and fly outbound, rotate the OBS to set the radial under the course index;
   to fly inbound on the radial, turn the OBS to set the reciprocal of the radial under the course index.
3. confirm that TO/FROM indicator is consistent with intentions;
   i.e., if flying inbound, TO should read with reciprocal set in OBI.
   It should show FROM with the outbound radial set.
   Having confirmed the TO/FROM indicator is consistent with your intention, continue to Step 4. NOTE: The TO/FROM indicator does not show whether you are tracking TO or FROM the station; it only shows whether or not the course you have chosen will take you TO or FROM the station, IF INTERCEPTED AND IF FLOWN!
4. If the Course Deviation Indicator [CDI] is to the left, SUBTRACT an appropriate intercept angle (usually between 40° & 60°) from the course set under the index in the OBI dial.
   If the CDI needle is right, ADD an appropriate intercept angle to the course shown in the OBI. Refer to the Directional Gyro [D.G.] and turn left/right, which ever distance [angle] is shorter [less]. Remember, we are turning to intercept a radial we determined as being our inbound or outbound heading to our destination [Step 2].
5. When the CDI needle centers, the intercept is accomplished and the aircraft should be turned [heading] to the course set in OBI; i.e., the course selected to be flown.

NOTE: Often, when flying inbound to intercept a given radial, pilots reach the station before the intercept. This happens when an insufficient intercept angle is flown. To make sure the angle flown will intercept the station before arrival, use the following procedure:

• Rotate the OBS from the course being intercepted to the intercept heading [in the D.G.] being flown. If the CDI needle reverses, the intercept will occur before the station passage; if not, then station passage will occur first, UNLESS a larger intercept angle is used.

So now we would put in 270° in the OBS. We determined earlier this would be a turn to the left so immediately past the station, we would initiate a 15° bank toward the intended direction (left turn in this instance since we are turning from 360° to 270°). We turn to our intended heading plus an "intercept amount". We need this extra bit so that we re intercept the radial, and not just fly parallel to it outbound. We would turn to any angle in addition to the 270°.  Common practice, would be to turn 30° more or fly to a heading of 240° after the station passage.

With our OBI set at 270° and flying a heading of 240°, we would intercept the radial outbound within 10-15 miles. As the needle starts to come back to the center, adjust the heading closer to 270° to put us directly on the radial flying 270° FROM the station. It is now just a matter of reading the DME and adjusting our altitude to bring us to our destination. That's all there is to it: fly to the station and after passage turn to a heading that will allow interception of the outbound radial.

VOR's can also be used for time checks. This is a nifty trick that i was tough. It will let you know how long it will take to get to the VOR from where you currently are:

• While inbound to the station on the 022° radial, you would need to start with an easy number. So we would use the 030° radial to start our check. We would turn to a heading of 120°, which is at right angles to the 030° radial. The OBS is turned to 030° and as the needle centers, we note the time. Immediately we rotate the OBS to 040°, which is the next radial to be used in the time check. We countinue to fly the 120° heading and flies to the 040° radial. As we cross this radial and the needle centers, we note the time and finds that it has taken two minutes (60 seconds) to make the 10° radial change.

The formula for determining the time remaining to the station is:

(TIME IN SECONDS BETWEEN RADIAL CHANGE)/(DEGREES OF RADIAL CHANGE) equals TIME TO STATION IN MINUTES.

Therefore, by dividing 60 seconds by 10, we now know we have 6 minutes remaining to fly to the station. Although this problem can be worked out using any degree of radial change, l0° of radial change is the simplest and fastest to figure out in my opinion.

VOR's can also be used to find your location if you are lost.  This is another nifty trick with the VOR's that will locate you within minutes if you are lost.  

• Find 2 VOR's that are close to the last know location, or the general area you believe you are around.
• Tune in the first VOR and rotate the OBS until you get a FROM indication and a centered needle.
• Draw a line coming out of that VOR on the heading that the centered needle is on, on your sectional.
• Tune into the second VOR and rotate the OBS until you get a FROM indication and a centered needle.
• Draw a line coming out of that VOR on the heading that the centered needle is on, on your sectional.
• These 2 lines should intersect at some point.  This is the point where your airplane is located, or very close to.
• At this point you should look for landmarks, outside, and on the sectional.  Try to reestablish your position.  Once you know where you are, continue on course.