One of the requirements for taking the instrument flight test is the instrument cross country. Quoting from FAR § 61.65.d.iii (flight experience):
For
an instrument-airplane rating, instrument training on cross-country flight
procedures specific to airplanes that includes at least one cross-country
flight in an airplane that is performed under IFR, and consists of
(A) A distance of at least 250 nautical miles along airways or ATC-directed
routing;
(B) An instrument approach at each airport; and
(C) Three different kinds of approaches with the use of navigation systems;
My instrument instructor was Ken Thompson who, as many of
you know, was also my colleague at Bell Labs and one of the creators of the
Unix operating system. And we wouldn’t
be proper Bell Labs scientists if we didn’t research the minimal instrument cross country out of
I studied the maps and the Airport/Facility Directory,
that treasure trove of Tower En Route canned flight plans – the airspace around
|
From→To |
Route |
Altitude |
|
MMU→POU |
Morristown-4 SID, Brezy, Ð IGN, Ð |
3000 |
|
POU→AVP |
Dutchess-4 SID, Weard, V106, Ð |
6000 |
|
AVP→TTN |
Scranton-1 SID, Ð FJC, V149, Mazie, ARD, Ð |
5000 |
|
TTN→MMU |
Ð SJB, Ð |
4000 |
Ken warned me to be prepared to be on instruments almost immediately after takeoff. We were in the clouds just 15 seconds after the wheels left the ground and only glimpsed ground on short final at each of the approaches. It was an eye opener to see that, in cloud, you really can’t see what’s up and what’s down – it really isn’t any darker looking down, or any lighter looking up. We never came out on top, so I never needed the hood.
Ken was enthusiastic. He explained how north-east winds were just perfect for the purpose because we would get the NDB approach into Morristown, we could choose between an ILS and VOR approach into Poughkeepsie, choose between ILS and NDB at Trenton and we would, therefore definitely get our three different types of approaches. I was just trying to keep the shiny side up and keep up with New York Approach.
We made our first approach (the VOR/DME-6 POU) and landed to give me time to get the clearance for the next leg and set up for it. While cruising along for the second leg I settled down somewhat and actually started to enjoy the experience.
But then, as I concentrated on keeping the needles crossed for the ILS-4 AVP, and reported in to the Tower controller, the controller came back with:
“November Three Zero Five Four
Echo,
That was a new one for me. I looked at Ken who, with a huge grin on his face, looked back at me and said:
“Yes, how will it terminate?”
Obviously, no help was going to come from my instructor, so I pressed the mic button and said:
“Terminate? We fully intend to survive this one, Three Zero Five Four Echo”
Laughing, the controller asked whether we were going to land or miss. Finally comprehending, I told him we’d miss. Maybe not a good idea, because I then experienced what it’s like to climb back up and write down a clearance at the same time without the help of an autopilot.
We landed at
“King Air 123, Say altitude”
“2000, 123”
“November Three Zero Five Four Echo, immediate left turn, heading zero niner zero”
That got our attention. As we turned 180 degrees, the controller started to tell the King Air in no uncertain terms that he had not cleared him for the approach, and therefore not cleared him to descend below 3000. The King Air apologized in a small voice and was then told to continue the approach and go the tower. We were then turned around again and the controller thanked us for our cooperation; he cleared us for the approach and told us to go to the tower.
We tuned in to
April 2007, Sape Mullender