AOPA Pilot Magazine - October 2021 - 99

RUDDER & WRENCH
IFR TECHNIQUE /
Glass-panel precision
Situational awareness, smoothness, and simplicity
BY DAVE HIRSCHMAN
FLYING AN INSTRUMENT APPROACH with
a modern glass panel is a qualitatively different
experience than the same procedure
with analog gauges. Even the most essential
aspects of IFR flight-instrument scan,
instrument interpretation, and aircraft
control-are fundamentally altered with
guidance from modern digital avionics.
Sure, the approach procedures, navigational
fixes, glideslope intercept points,
needle sensitivity, and minimum descent
altitudes are identical, and air traffic controllers
rightly treat glass panel and analog
airplanes just the same. For pilots, however,
IFR techniques-and the flying skills
required-are strikingly dissimilar when
operating glass-panel avionics compared
to analog gauges.
Consider a plain-vanilla ILS
approach flown in a Beechcraft Bonanza
A36 with a traditional six-pack panel,
for example. The pilot's eyes shift to
and from the attitude indicator during
a ceaseless scan, and the pilot assembles
a comprehensive mental picture of
the aircraft's changing status as it
approaches an airport for landing.
The pilot analytically determines the
airplane's attitude, airspeed, power setting,
position, height above the ground, configuration,
and energy state from this series of
mental snapshots. Cross-referencing primary
and supporting instruments allows
the pilot to keep the airplane properly oriented
through a series of configuration
changes during descent and landing. It's a
nonstop aviation version of the childhood
game: " What's wrong with this picture? "
Along the way, pilots monitor their
progress on approach plates that allow
verification of their current position and
anticipation of next steps. Power settings
are predetermined from previous experience
(and the old truism " pitch plus
power equals performance " ). The ballpark
power settings are close enough to
ensure the airplane is below landing gear
and flap deployment speeds along the way.
(In this case, about 18 inches of manifold
pressure and approach flaps in level flight,
then lower the landing gear one dot below
glideslope intercept to establish a roughly
500-foot-per-minute descent.)
Control inputs are intentionally
mechanical. The pilot brackets the localizer
by tapping the rudder pedals. At the
same time, the pilot tracks the ILS glideslope
by moving the yoke fore and aft, then
adjusting elevator trim. Airspeed adjustments
are made with power.
The heading bug on the directional
gyro is set to the localizer course,
and the pilot notes the amount of
crosswind correction needed to keep
the increasingly sensitive horizontal
situation indicator (HSI) needles
centered throughout the descent.
The pilot keeps decision height firmly
in mind as the airplane nears that hard
AOPA PILOT / October 2021
99
SHAW NIELSEN

AOPA Pilot Magazine - October 2021

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of AOPA Pilot Magazine - October 2021

Contents
AOPA Pilot Magazine - October 2021 - Intro
AOPA Pilot Magazine - October 2021 - Cover1
AOPA Pilot Magazine - October 2021 - Cover2
AOPA Pilot Magazine - October 2021 - Contents
AOPA Pilot Magazine - October 2021 - 2
AOPA Pilot Magazine - October 2021 - 3
AOPA Pilot Magazine - October 2021 - 4
AOPA Pilot Magazine - October 2021 - 5
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AOPA Pilot Magazine - October 2021 - 111
AOPA Pilot Magazine - October 2021 - 112
AOPA Pilot Magazine - October 2021 - Cover3
AOPA Pilot Magazine - October 2021 - Cover4
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