Fun indoor activities for IMC Days

[mnewbery]

Fun indoor activities for IMC Days

 

This should be a forum thread I think.

 

I'm looking out the window. What I wanted was crosswinds. Instead I get low overcast and occasional light rain. A flying gentleman's thoughts turn to indoor activities... These activities are all designed to focus the pilot or student on a particular skill or knowledge topic. Caveat: This post is for entertainment only. Refer to your training, take personal responsibilty for your decisions and fly the airplane.

 

Part A. Non Simluator activities for one or two players - mostly navigation

 

Ativity 1

 

Plan a day trip between the two nearest airfields using your fvaourite purveyance. Make the prevailing conditions as benign or challenging as you like. In fact do both - one with no wind and one with a cross wind at 90 degrees to one of the airfields and 90% of the demonstrated cross wind penetration of the aircraft. If you are not sharing the room with a pilot, email the plans to "someone who is a pilot" to check your work. Bonus points for using a pencil, map, ruler and an analogue computer. Repeat the exercise for all or a part of your "wish list" trip.

 

Activity 2

 

On the same topic, work through the list of examples that came with your analogue/pocket computer. The answers are in the back of the example book.

 

Activity 3

 

Choose the three nearest airfields to you or the three that you are most familiar with. Give an ERSA to a friend (bonus points if the ERSA is up to date) or print off the same details from the Air Services web site and hand that over. Get your (equally bored and grounded) friend to test your knowledge of each airfield by asking random piloting questions based on the details. Ignore the stuff about fuel, GPS marks and phone numbers. This is a memory test, essentially. You should already be familiar with the details, shouldn't you? Double points for choosing a controlled aerodrome.

 

Activity 4

 

Randomly answer questions from any basic aeronautical knowledge text book. It helps if the answers are in the back. Double demerit points and washing up duty for a week for not being able to answer all questions correctly. This can be done with friends or without. If you are living alone, you get washing up duty anyways. Take someone out for dinner if you get 100%

 

Activity 5

 

Read the latest Visual Flying guide. Use it to interpret some interesting METAR or NOTAM.

 

Activity 6

 

Go to the CASA website and have a look at some of the free stuff that CASA publishes. Note you still need to pay for postage so if you buy, buy up big and make the order count. http://casa.cart.net.au/cat/2021063.html

 

Activity 7

 

Plan a lap around the outside of the nearest controlled airspace, going between reporting points. Extra marks for remembering to change altitude when passing through 179 degrees or north. Calculate the time taken for your favourite aircraft to do th lap. Assume nil wind or another condition as appropriate. Also note where the MSALT pushes you into the controlled arspace and what radio calls are required at that reporting point.

 

Activity 8

 

Use an out of date map, pencil, a dart board and a dice. Draw a line between two reporting points or other waypoints. Put the map on a dart board and throw a dart at it. Throw the dice twice. The first number is the wind in knots and the second number is 1/10th of the direction (you can double the numbers if that suits). You are where the dart landed and you want to get back on track. Pick one waypoint and plot a course correction to get directly to it. Repeat the exercise for the other waypoint.

 

Activity 9

 

Find a quiet place to go for a drive, Preferrably somewhere hilly. Concentrate on driving safely . Pick a speed that you can safely maintain up and down the hills. Using the gears as flaps/pitch control, maintain a constant safe speed without using the brakes (much). Using the brakes would be like slipping. Choose speedometer readings that correspond to your blue and white arc values. You can do pre landing checks at red lights and stop signs too. The choke is not a carby heater (do any cars have chokes now?) Substitute the airconditioning or demister switch for the landing light. Note that selecting first gear while your car is still rolling is not generally recommended. Lose a point for every time you go 5km/h over or under your selected speed. Concentrate on driving safely and practise scanning your gauges, ahead, lookout and mirrors. You will know when you are doing it right. Lose points for hitting anything you don't own or getting a ticket.

 

Part B

 

Simulator activities

 

Activity 1

 

Set up a Basic IFR activifty (e.g. with just the panel showing). Hand fly straight and level for a minute, up for a minute at (for example) 500ft/min, down for a minute at 500ft/min. Repeat until you get the transitions between flight modes (to/from straight and level) comfortably right. Bonus points for constant indicated airspeed (e.g Vy) at all stages.

 

Activity 2

 

Repeat Activity 1 over your favourite airfield in the circuit, starting at 1000ft AGL over the field. Ascend using an IFR chandelle manoeuvre from upwind to crosswind to downwind. You should start downwind 1000ft higher than where you started and pointing in the opposite direction. Perform an IFR chandelle descent onto final. Pass over the top of the field at 1000ft AGL and repeat. Do this three times without any radio or visual navigation, only a timer and the 6 flight gauges. At the end of the third lap, check where you are visually. Bonus points for still being over the field. If you are really good at this, repeat the exercise at circuit height and go from IFR to VFR for a touch and go when you roll out onto final.

 

Activity 3

 

Set up an unusual attitude recovery activity. Record how long it takes to get straight and level again. Get faster at recovery. Bonus points for not redlining the engine or busting the airspeed limits for the type chosen. Review the flying training manual for correct procedures - no point in re-enforcing bad habits. Compete with a friend.

 

Activity 4

 

Using the repeat/location airborne function in the simulator, practice competitive spot landing. Agree on the method of keeping score before you start.

 

Activity 5

 

Repeat any part of activity 1 and 2 above with partial panel.

 

Activity 6

 

Peform EFATO and engine failure in circuit exercises. To make this a bit more fun, choose a random non standard departure (short or soft field takeoff) plus use fuel exhaustion to make the failure more unexpected and permanent. Review the mayday calls and required settings. Practise forced landings starting from 3000 AAL. Turn this into a competition by including spot landing at the end.

 

Activity 7

 

Using the repeat/location airborne function in the simulator plus a map and an ERSA, place the aircraft randomly. Measure how long it takes to become certain of your position and be able to point to it on the map. If you are setting this up for someone else, bonus points for messing up the directional gyro and turning off all the nav aids before handing over the simulator.Yes you can use the pause button.

 

 

[Guest aviatrix27]

Oh dear! Sounds like someone's suffering too many IMC days. Well done though, lots of fun activities