Thought it was about time to update the blog on my training progress for the CFI-I add-on rating.

The good news is that I didn’t “crash”, but about 10 days ago I did have a melt-down during a training flight with my instructor, James Treiber.  Here’s what happened.

The day before that flight, I had successfully passed the FAA Knowledge exam (written test) for the CFI-I.  Leading up to that day was over two months of studying and reviewing possible test questions with the King Schools CD program, the Gleim Aviation on line test prep software and the Sporty’s Instrument Rating Training Course.  Fairly intensive studying as the score obtained on the written test is reviewed by the Designated Pilot Examiner on the day of the Practical Test (that’s the oral and flight test) and the better one does on the written, the better the Practical Test will probably go.

So, the morning after I took the written, James and I had a scheduled training flight.  James sets the stage for the lesson by asking me to pick two non-precision approaches to fly.  I chose the GPS RWY 24 to KOKB (Oceanside Airport), with a missed approach and then the VOR A to KCRQ (Palomar-Carlsbad Airport) with a full stop.  Looking back, I didn’t realize at the time how much brain power I had used for the written and because of that it would have been best not to have scheduled that training session so soon after the written.

The first approach went fairly well.  These procedures are hand-flown (BAIF-no autopilot) and with foggles on as a view limiting device.  Where the meltdown began was during the climb out on the missed approach procedure and after I radioed SOCAL Approach to let them know I was on the missed.  As we know, the missed approach can be a high work and brain load time.  You make sure you are climbing away from the ground because the runway or runway environment isn’t in sight to land, pushing and twisting various buttons on the G1000 to set up the MAP course and altitude, and then there’s ATC who wants to know “what are your intentions?”!  I was fine until I notified ATC that “Skyhawk 497TC was on the missed”.  The mnemonic memory aid that I use on a missed approach is the 6 C’s CRAM-CLIMB-COOL-CLEAN-COURSE and CALL.  Aha, the “CALL”, that’s when it went downhill.

SOCAL came back immediately with a non-standard missed approach procedure to set us up for our next approach into KCRQ.  Glory B, There is no one else on this earth who can talk as fast as that controller did at that moment in time!  Even to this day, sitting in my easy chair writing this, I can’t recall all that I was directed to do.  Write that clearance down? – forget it!  Memorize it – don’t think so!!  I’m in a high work load time on the missed, receiving a complicated missed approach clearance given at warp speed that I must memorize and mentally visualize  and continue to hand fly (with foggles on you may recall).

Now I know why this is called “training” and James was there with me.  As I sat there with brain meltdown, James acknowledged the clearance and began the button pushing and twisting on the G1000 that would get us on course.  But, we’re not done yet!!

Remember, I mentioned two approaches above.  The missed approach clearance the controller gave us was a set up for the second approach – the VOR A into KCRQ.  Now I had to get us to the IAP, which, at this time was only a little over 4.0 nm away.  Very little distance and time for me to find the new approach chart, brief the approach, set the radios for KCRQ, obtain the ATIS, have KCRQ tower frequency on stand by, remove the first approach, load the new approach into the flight plan window of the G1000, level off at the new altitude and fly the assigned heading (have I mentioned foggles?)!  Fortunately, as you can see on the VOR approach chart, there is a required course reversal in the form of a holding pattern, so during that reversal back to the FAF, I was finally able to become a pilot again and not a passenger.

That flight was a very good reminder of how quickly in the terminal environment a single IFR pilot’s work load can become almost overwhelming – and that was a training flight (thanks James) -what about when you’re a single pilot in actual conditions?  Hmm.  If that happens, then we need to use SPRM.  That’s Single Pilot Resource Management and a subject for one of my future blog posts and an instrument student lesson plan.

By the way, I scored a 96 on the written test.