My flight today was great. I have been looking forward to this flight for days since my last flight was cancelled due to aircraft maintenance. Other than being a little on the warm side (90 degrees at 6:30AM), the air was smooth and visibility was 20 plus miles. Not that visibility mattered much it was IFR training…
181547Z VRB05KT 30SM SKC 35/10 A2992
Scott and I spent about ½ hour going over some ground school stuff before heading out to the plane. We took off from runway 22L and headed south. We began with some constant rate climbs, turns to headings and standard rate turns. After that, we began tracing the Williams Gateway or “WILLIE” VOR (IWA). A lot of this was review from my Private Pilot training but there was a very compelling difference – the Garmin GN
S 430 is far more complex and capable than I had known.
As a VFR pilot I was used to following a purple line to my destination. When using the GPS and CDI (Course Deviation Indicator) it is a lot more accurate than following the purple line on the moving map! Additionally, when flying VFR, I only used a fraction of the capabilities of the Garmin. Typically I would use the “nearest” function to find nearby airports or I could look up local airport frequencies if I didn’t have them in front of me. Today I learned so much more about functions of the Garmin GPS unit I was nearly overwhelmed. It is a lot to learn and retain. You can track and locate VORs, Airports, NDBs, Intersections, and a lot more. While using a VOR to fly to and using multiple VORs to triangulate position was a lot of review from my Private Pilot training, today was much more in-depth.
After tracking the Stanfield VOR (TFD), we used that to locate Eloy airport (E60). This is a small uncontrolled airport with a lot of jumping activity. We did a touch and go after a nasty exchange with one of the jump pilots. It seemed like this jump pilot had a bit of an attitude. As if we were an imposition to her traffic pattern! Oh well, it won’t be the last time… The jump pilots at Pinal (MZJ) are really great and work with other aircraft when jumping activity is in process.
Upon departing Eloy (thankfully), we flew to the Stanfield VOR and then turned to the Phoenix VOR (PXR). We flew toward PXR and switched to GPS tracking to Chandler. We flew over their Class Delta airspace and flew GPS to Falcon Field for a landing – not a bad one either. Great time!
It was a fun lesson. Also, being able to appreciate a well equipped airplane is something that I am quickly learning to do!
181547Z VRB05KT 30SM SKC 35/10 A2992
Scott and I spent about ½ hour going over some ground school stuff before heading out to the plane. We took off from runway 22L and headed south. We began with some constant rate climbs, turns to headings and standard rate turns. After that, we began tracing the Williams Gateway or “WILLIE” VOR (IWA). A lot of this was review from my Private Pilot training but there was a very compelling difference – the Garmin GN
S 430 is far more complex and capable than I had known.As a VFR pilot I was used to following a purple line to my destination. When using the GPS and CDI (Course Deviation Indicator) it is a lot more accurate than following the purple line on the moving map! Additionally, when flying VFR, I only used a fraction of the capabilities of the Garmin. Typically I would use the “nearest” function to find nearby airports or I could look up local airport frequencies if I didn’t have them in front of me. Today I learned so much more about functions of the Garmin GPS unit I was nearly overwhelmed. It is a lot to learn and retain. You can track and locate VORs, Airports, NDBs, Intersections, and a lot more. While using a VOR to fly to and using multiple VORs to triangulate position was a lot of review from my Private Pilot training, today was much more in-depth.
After tracking the Stanfield VOR (TFD), we used that to locate Eloy airport (E60). This is a small uncontrolled airport with a lot of jumping activity. We did a touch and go after a nasty exchange with one of the jump pilots. It seemed like this jump pilot had a bit of an attitude. As if we were an imposition to her traffic pattern! Oh well, it won’t be the last time… The jump pilots at Pinal (MZJ) are really great and work with other aircraft when jumping activity is in process.
Upon departing Eloy (thankfully), we flew to the Stanfield VOR and then turned to the Phoenix VOR (PXR). We flew toward PXR and switched to GPS tracking to Chandler. We flew over their Class Delta airspace and flew GPS to Falcon Field for a landing – not a bad one either. Great time!
It was a fun lesson. Also, being able to appreciate a well equipped airplane is something that I am quickly learning to do!
Flight time: 1.5
Total Time: 92.3
