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IFR Flights of 13MIKE

by Fred J. Calfior and Douglas W. Miller

PREFLIGHT

note:

Set ZOOM to "1.0"

 

Set TIME to "21:30"

"All righty-O! We've got our clearance, and this time rather than having it all the way to the destination at Van Nuys, they've given us a clearance limit to Seal Beach VOR. A clearance limit is always accompanied by an expect further clearance (EFC) time, so that if you lose radio communications at the clearance limit, you can depart that limit at the EFC time, rather than waiting until the ETA to your destination. Beautiful Oceanside! It'11 be sad to leave The Mission San Louis Rey, plus the pier and harbor were peaceful to visit. But a pilot must do what a pilot must do, so let's UNICOM it!"

Instruments:

1) Tune COM to "123.0" (UNICOM)

You:

"OCEANSIDE UNICOM, CESSNA 9413MIKE IS AT THE RAMP. WOULD YOU PLEASE GIVE ME YOUR ADVISORIES ON WIND, RUNWAY IN USE, AND ALTIMETER SETTING PLEASE?"

Oceanside UNICOM:

"CESSNA 9413MIKE, WIND ZERO NINER ZERO AT NINER, YOU'LL TAKEOFF ON RUNWAY SIX. ALTIMETER TWO NINER NINER NINER."

You:

"THANKS UNICOM. I'LL LET YOU KNOW WHEN I'M TAXIING."

"Because we're taking off from an uncontrolled airport, we again have a clearance void time to work with. We'11 easily make its window, but if for instance, we ate too many burgers and realized we'd be late, then it's important to call up the FSS and revise the clearance void time. They expect to hear from us airborne by that time. I'll continue this dialog, [or is it a monologue?], after you've set up your instruments."

2) Set "Altimeter" and "Heading Indicator"

3) Set XPDR to "4333" (assigned IFR code)

4) Tune NAV 1 to "115.3" (OCN)

5) Set NAV 1 OBS to a centered "TO" needle

6) Tune NAV 2 to "115.7" (SLI)

7) Set NAV 2 OBS to "300"

8) Set the DME to "NAV 1" and "DIST"

9) Check CARB HEAT is "OFF"

10) Check GEAR "DOWN"

11) Turn STROBE "ON"

12) Turn LIGHTS "ON"

"Takeoff plans become rather simple in this case, don't they? No SID, no vectors - oh, they could give us some vectors once we talk to them, but most likely you'll just be flying the IFR departure procedure listed for this airport. Runway six is the active, so you're looking at a climbing right turn to a heading of two three five, and then eventually pointing your nose to Oceanside VOR. Piece of cake!"

You:

"OCEANSIDE UNICOM, CESSNA 13MIKE TAXIING TO RUNWAY SIX FOR DEPARTURE, IFR."

Oceanside UNICOM:

"CESSNA 13MIKE, TAKE CARE!"

TAXI -

"It's a right turn and taxi straight towards those shadowy night silhouetted little mountains until you're at the hold short for runway six. There are two basic requirements to flying in instrument meteorological conditions (IMC) within controlled airspace. One is that you must have a filed flight plan. Two is that you receive a clearance from that flight plan. Do you know what situation we would be in if we took off late, like past the clearance void time, and then checked in with departure control? We'd be in violation because once the void time was past, our clearance would have been canceled! That's why you've got to watch your time management under this situation."

RUN UP -

1) Set brake (hold down to prevent aircraft from moving)

2) Advance power to about "1800" RPM

**                    3) Select CARB HEAT "ON", record RPM drop_____(5 pts)

4) Select CARB HEAT "OFF"

**                    5) Select "LEFT" Mag, record RPM drop___________(5 pts)

6) Select "BOTH" Mags

**                    7) Select "RIGHT" Mag, record RPM drop_________(5 pts)

8) Select "BOTH" Mags

9) Reduce power to idle

"Let's do a no flap takeoff this time. It's good to vary things once in a while. 13 MIKE can handle the pressure, I'm sure!"

10) Check FLAPS are up

"Just to wrap up this clearance void time stuff, you do have a thirty minute window past the void time to call FSS and advise of the change in your plans. What's hard on the airspace system is that for the thirty minutes after your void time, all IFR traffic is suspended for Oceanside, in order to ensure no potential conflict with you. After thirty minutes, ATC sends the dogs out after you to sniff and hunt you out! What I mean is, they start making phone calls, which is the beginning of search and rescue initiation procedures taking place on your behalf. Anyway, we haven't goofed on this one, so talk to traffic and let's have some more fun in the sky!"

You:

"OCEANSIDE TRAFFIC, CESSNA 13MIKE IS TAKING THE ACTIVE, RUNWAY SIX, IFR. RIGHT TURNOUT."

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