I’ve been flying less lately, and it has shown in my performance. I’m working to analyze what’s up, and get busy fixing it.
How I found it: During flights in the SR22 with Mike, I got behind on my scan using the Avidyne system – more than once. While I typically had the correct approach loaded and the aircraft lined up, I had difficulty keeping track of where I was with respect to lateral guidance – how far from the runway and/or step down fixes. The result was that I was too high at the MDA, and had to miss the approach. Since then, Mike has shown me his technique to keep DME like information in my scan, but I need to practice.
What to do about it: Returning home after that experience, I fired up the simulator and started flying both single and multi-engine models on non-precision approaches. I’m not having issues with precision approaches and WAAS GPS approaches, but confirmed that I need to clean up this area. My scan is rusty in the sim and the 22; my approach briefing misses a few items when it gets busy; and I’m basically out of practice regarding non-precision approaches.
Study and Research: I’m reading Redefining Airmanship, by Anthony Kern, based on a recommendation that came from one of my sources. It is a rather well written textbook, in my opinion, but not a particularly fun read. Interesting if you want to self-evaluate and find ideas for improving. I’ve already been undertaking the self-improvement steps defined in the text, but there are some new ideas coming to the fore. For now – I am working to improve my use of checklists and stop relying so much on memory.
Improvements are coming.
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