Just call me Mudge the hood

Mon Mar 12, 2007 3:58 pm

Got to do some hood work today. Not the most fun I've ever had but not too bad. Instructor said I did quite well for my first time. Re-did some of the stuff I've done previously. Tried another landing. Did pretty well until the quartering crosswind from the left front "balooned" me. Got a fur piece down the runway before I could get it on the ground. (With a little help from the right seat.)

Read my post..."OK...I may have over re-acted" for the latest on my medical situation. Not as "career ending" as I had first thought.

Mudge the relieved

Mon Mar 12, 2007 4:09 pm

Hi Mudge,
Just curious -
In the aircraft you're using for your training, do you have a heading/direction indicator, or just a wet ("whiskey") compass?

The reason is ask is that ~3 years ago when I was doing my training, the taildragger aircraft (Citabria 7ECA) I was training in only had a wet compass.
That sure made the hood work a bit more difficult when trying to come to a new assigned heading during a gusty or turbulent day.
(I ended up taking part of my checkride on a gusty day - 20-25 knot variable crosswinds - in a taildragger! And, at altitude doing the hoodwork part of the exam, I had to approximate my course because the turbulence was so bad that the wet compass had swings of >30 degrees in both directions. That poor compass never stopped moving in that bumpy and gusty air...) And, after that came the short and soft field take-offs and landings in that 20-25 knot variable crosswinds in a taildragger! :shock:

Needless to say, I passed my checkride and that day is in the Top 10 of most memorable days.

Keep on training and best of luck!

Regards,
Mike

P.S. And, just passed/got signed off on my first Biennial Flight Review this past Saturday...

Mon Mar 12, 2007 4:21 pm

Not the most fun I've ever had

When you can't see out side is when the real work of flying begins. Wait until you get yourself some "actual" time...the 1st time I went into cloud (solo) on an IFR night cross country jaunt...the whole time my rear-end told me I was turning left... :shock:

It was quite interesting.

Glad your having fun!

Z

Mon Mar 12, 2007 4:37 pm

Ztex wrote:the whole time my rear-end told me I was turning left...

I had a similar experience my first time entering a cloud bank while flying with my dad back in the 1980s in his Cherokee 140. We were VFR at 2000 feet en route from southern Delaware to Cape May, NJ. We went from bright, clear air into a dense fog bank just as we got over the shoreline of the Delaware Bay and went "feet wet". Ahem. Instead of watching the instruments, I figured I could just fly it "by feel". I mean, we all know what "straight and level" feels like, right? :lol:

Meanwhile, Dad kept a close eye on our situation to make sure things didn't get out of hand. After perhaps five minutes in the fog, Dad tapped me on the shoulder and pointed to the compass. Criminy!!! We were almost 180 degrees off course! Then he pointed to the turn and bank indicator. The left wing was about 10 degrees low! Next, he pointed to the artificial horizon. The nose was obviously pointing downward! Finally, he pointed to the altimeter. We were down to 1500 feet! :shock:

I had us in a shallow, diving, left turn, and we had been that way for some time! Then I heard his voice in the headset: "You know what to do now, don'tcha son?" :oops:

Cheers!

Mon Mar 12, 2007 5:42 pm

Speaking of clouds. My instructor asked what I thought would be the best way to get out of a cloud that I just flown into. I scratched my head for a moment and said..."Do a 180?" He seemed happy with that answer.

Mudge the reversible

Mon Mar 12, 2007 6:37 pm

Mudge wrote:Speaking of clouds. My instructor asked what I thought would be the best way to get out of a cloud that I just flown into. I scratched my head for a moment and said..."Do a 180?" He seemed happy with that answer.

Mudge the reversible

Actually, a group of IFR training folks (http://www.flyifr.com)who seemed pretty knowledgable and logical up in Burnet had a lecture at one of the FAA events I've been to and made a strong case for not doing the immediate 180 so many instructors seem to be fond of. They said that it was a good way to get yourself confused and disoriented and (from what I remember) advocated leveling the wings first and establishing your position before taking action. If I had the money and was ready for the IFR course, that's where I think I would take it.

Ryan

Mon Mar 12, 2007 7:08 pm

My opinion, but a strong one; for a VFR only pilot, Don't go near IMC weather, turn around before you get there. If you do go IMC by accident. level the wings on the att ind; look at the DG or compass for your course, figure 180 degrees out (add 200, subtract 20) then roll gently into about a 20 bank level turn on the att ind until you get back on the course that will hopefully take you back to the clear weather you were in before. If not your chance of killing yourself and any passengers in the next 5 min is large. If you don't believe this, later in your training get a CFI to take you up in a night IMC weather, complete with turbulence, and see how long it takes you to lose control. And by the way, some of the IFR instruments can easily fail and a simple plane like a Warrior doesn't have a backup. Oh, flying simulated IMC with a hood on a nice sunny day is not the real thing.

Mon Mar 12, 2007 8:00 pm

k5dh wrote:
Ztex wrote:the whole time my rear-end told me I was turning left...

I had a similar experience my first time entering a cloud bank while flying with my dad back in the 1980s in his Cherokee 140. We were VFR at 2000 feet en route from southern Delaware to Cape May, NJ. We went from bright, clear air into a dense fog bank just as we got over the shoreline of the Delaware Bay and went "feet wet". Ahem. Instead of watching the instruments, I figured I could just fly it "by feel". I mean, we all know what "straight and level" feels like, right? Meanwhile, Dad kept a close eye on our situation to make sure things didn't get out of hand. After perhaps five minutes in the fog, Dad tapped me on the shoulder and pointed to the compass. Criminy!!! We were almost 180 degrees off course! Then he pointed to the turn and bank indicator. The left wing was about 10 degrees low! Next, he pointed to the artificial horizon. The nose was obviously pointing downward! Finally, he pointed to the altimeter. We were down to 1500 feet! I had us in a shallow, diving, left turn, and we had been that way for some time! Then I heard his voice in the headset: "You know what to do now, don'tcha son?"

Cheers!

Great story! I'd give my left jaloney to have had a chance to fly with my Pop! :lol:

Mon Mar 12, 2007 8:50 pm

Bill...Precisely what my CFI told me.

Mudge the educable