Schmetterling Aviation: The Flight Review
That mentioned, a CFI can refuse to log out the BFR as full in the event you’re fully inept, however nothing stops an individual actually devoted to flying himself into an early grave from merely discovering a extra pliable CFI.
Loath to waste the {dollars} paid to the CFI to simply bore holes within the sky for an hour, I often choose one thing to observe and/or be taught. This time round I believed it will be alternative to see if the Dynon SkyView and autopilot have been succesful (versus ‘authorized’) of flying a GPS instrument method. I selected MadCo, primarily as a result of its very near dwelling base. The forecast winds have been exhibiting runway 27 as the popular runway selection, so I downloaded the RNAV (GPS) RWY 27 method plate from the web. I even have these method plates constructed into the SkyView, however I needed an opportunity to get take a look at it earlier than flying it. It has been a really very long time since I used to be instrument present; so lengthy, in reality, that I’ve by no means seen or flown a RNAV (GPS) method.
Right here is the method plate:
The unmolested plate does not have the intense pink line on it – I drew that on so you possibly can see the course we’d be flying. I am lazy, so the intersections aren’t rounded as they have been when the route was depicted on the SkyView.
Even when I by no means stray into a giant cloud, I should discover myself in a state of affairs the place I want to have the ability to management the airplane by reference to the devices. Have you ever ever pushed right into a setting solar on a hazy day? Yeah, that.
As a result of the SkyView is not authorised for instrument approaches, it does not have the niceties that make the routine use of approaches straightforward. For instance, I may merely load the method, which might robotically load the waypoints right into a flight plan. As an alternative, I needed to manually create a flight plan for the UHAGY → AKPUC → FOFWI → JADMU development. Even that was tougher than common as a result of Dynon seemingly suppresses the automated completion of a waypoint entry for a lot of these fixes – I needed to enter all 5 letters. That was straightforward whereas sitting on the bottom, however would have been a lot trickier within the air in even reasonably bumpy situations.
I made a decision to fly the primary try roughly by hand, and see how effectively the autopilot may do it after I had my likelihood at it. I say ‘roughly’ by hand as a result of I did use the flight director.
“That what??!?”
The flight director is said to the autopilot system. It shows a information on the bogus horizon, which reveals the angle of the airplane, however does nothing to manage the airplane. The information represents a reference of an airplane angle that may comply with the parameters set for the autopilot. The pilot can manually fly the airplane immediately the place the flight director signifies, and by doing so the airplane will comply with the parameters set for the autopilot.
It seems to be one thing like this:
The 2 purple trapezoidal bars (positioned horizontally within the image) are the flight director indicators. The yellow bars nestled up beneath them are the symptoms for the present financial institution and pitch angles being flown. When the purple and yellow bars are tightly nestled like that, the airplane is oriented precisely the way in which the autopilot would have accomplished it.
What this might appear to be to be as I used to be hand-flying the method can be, assuming I have to make a left flip to remain on the right track (or intercept a brand new course) can be the purple bars rolling right into a financial institution to the left whereas the yellow bars stayed behind. I might transfer the management stick with the left which might roll the precise airplane right into a left flip. This is able to trigger the yellow bars to roll to the left additionally, with their angle being commensurate with the financial institution angle of the airplane. If I have been to ‘fly’ the yellow bars such that they stayed matched up with the purple bars, the airplane would comply with the exact path decided by the flight plan.
Letting the autopilot do it will be the simplest manner, but when for some motive I needed at hand fly (too bumpy, or no matter), utilizing the flight director can be the 2nd best option.
It went effectively, however the RV-12 is a light-weight airplane and the climate wasn’t tremendous clean, so there ended up being much more lag between the purple bars telling me what to do and me doing it.
After a not-so-great touchdown, we went round once more and let the autopilot fly all the method. I took the Foggles off for that – I needed to control what it was doing. It did an awesome job. All I needed to do was handle the step-downs in altitude, and even that was merely a matter of turning a knob. The touchdown was no higher than the primary one, although.
We went on to do a few professional forma sluggish flight maneuvers and such, then it was again to base. I let the CFI make a few landings, considering that his would absolutely be worse than mine, nevertheless it wasn’t to be.
Oh effectively.
It was price doing, I suppose. I discovered a bit bit extra in regards to the capabilities of the autopilot and the observe time with the Foggles was positively price doing, so I’ve that going for me for the following two years plus a couple of days.
