Spring Training/Polishing of Your Pilot Skills Back to Sharpness

edited April 2022 in Training


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  • After not much Flying over the winter, what is your process for getting you skills sharp again?

    Here's mine: 1)Check the airplane out closely after all the work done over the winter. Make sure the airplane is ready for flight. 2)Local flights starting with big runways and going into short fields with gusty cross winds making sure you are on airspeed, glidepath, and on the runway where planned. Post flight checking the airplane closely for oil leaks, chafing of hoses, cables, or anything. 3)Practice instrument approaches alone in good VMC and once feeling OK, then fly with CFI to do multiple approaches, holds, missed approaches that turns out to be an IPC. Continue close pre&post flight checks of the airplane. 4) Now you're ready to go out in actual IMC and do approaches with say 1000'-1500' ceilings and 3-5 mi visability. This can be with our without CFI. Repeat #4 two or three times so that you are comfortable using the autopilot or hand flying. Filing IFR is optional here. Now you can start to reduce your personal minimums below 1000'. Now youre f filing IFR on every outing, and even in good weather just for the practice. What I call 'knobology' is a key item here - knowing how to use your avionics packages takes some time to refresh as well. In Wisconsin we cannot do actual IMC in the winter months due to icing, so in mid-April we are almost to the point where flying in the clouds with no ice is possible. What's your process for getting sharp again for the flying season? - Scott Sellers

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